LiamScheff.com — The Conspiracy Realist

2 Comments

• 
• Liam
• Apr 19, 2007, 16:53
I am told at GNN that the cooling towers are coal not nuclear:
Some thoughts:
From the train we saw a variety of energy producing facilities, nestled right in the middle of towns, these were the ones I photographed.
There were towers along the route, north and inland to the junction where ‘Officer Sleepy’ kept watch, then northeast to Shanghai
(The train route doesn’t go along the coast for reasons I couldn’t discern – it treks many hundred miles north-west inland before heading back to the coast).
But China is a very nuclear nation (so is France – about 70%). So is and will be India, and so will the rest of Europe.
China is amazing for what it can get people to do – or, I should say, for how it can get people to live.
I lived near Three Mile Island when it didn’t blow…my mother packed us up and I remember suddenly being in school elsewhere (in NY State? I’ll have to ask my mother), for a half a year.
The new nuclear is, I am told, called “pebble-bed”. A variety of ways safer than the submerged rods of yore.
The US will lose ground for lagging in nuclear energy development, (and it will, because activists won’t have it without huge, huge fights) and will probably play catch up at light speed when oil prices force energy into other development sectors.
And then – the waste….I’m betting Nevada (or parts of Utah, New Mexico) become a dump state, militarily guarded and off limits.
I mean, people aren’t going to give up their cars, and the rate of China/India’s growth demand cheap energy.
So, it is a nuclear boulevard we’re on, I believe.
I haven’t had much, or any, research time, just movement and pics – so, my mistake.
But it’s good for discussion.
In a very quick search, I found this from a few years ago:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_reactors/china/outlook.html
And this from the World Nuc Assoc:
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63.html
with a map of sites:

And this from one of China’s papers…how accurate the statements? You can bet they’re lilting to the positive side in their coverage.
http://english.people.com.cn/200401/07/eng20040107_132027.shtml
Project of Largest Nuclear Power Plant
Along with this winter’s electricity shortage, news about nuclear power has come from various localities: Hubei Province is choosing a site for a planned nuclear power station, striving to make itself the first inland province with nuclear electricity. Hunan has passed the province’s nuclear power construction plan, in an effort to build two 900,000-kilowatt units by 2010.While Chongqing has applied to the National Development and Reform Commission for permission to build nuclear power stations. Meanwhile, Sichuan Province is busy selecting a site in Yibin for the construction of a nuclear power station.
So, I don’t know – there are five in operation around Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing already and four in preparation/planning/building.
I came up and inland through Hong Kong into, I believe, what is called Changsha on this map (but wasn’t on mine).
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_pol01.jpg
Passed towers and energy plants coming out of Hong Kong into China, and approaching (a few hours prior to) Shanghai.
So, I don’t know. I can believe that the ones pictured aren’t necessarily nuclear – but we saw a variety and I truly do not photograph everything I see.
So, I’m sorry if I mislabeled these specifically.
If they aren’t nuclear, but coal, then we can be assured that they will be replaced, to comply with Al Gore. I think it’s a very good bet that nuclear is on the way:
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63.html
Because of the heavy reliance on old coal-fired plant, electricity generation accounts for much of the country’s air pollution, which is a strong reason to increase nuclear share. China is the second-largest contributor to energy-related carbon dioxide emissions after the USA.
The IEA (2004) predicted that its share in global emissions – mainly from the power sector – would increase from 14% in 202 to 19% in 2030, but this now looks conservative.
The government plans to increase nuclear generating capacity to 40 GWe by 2020 (of total 1000 GWe then), with a further 18 GWe nuclear being under construction then, requiring an average of 2 GWe per year being added.
• 
• Liam
• Apr 19, 2007, 17:20
Finally, because I’ve got to get up and say goodbye to my lovely little Osaka, Japan:
From:
http://www.uic.com.au/nip28.htm
* France derives 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy. This is due to a long-standing policy based on energy security.
* France is the world’s largest net exporter of electricity, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this.
* France has been very active in developing nuclear technology, and reactor technology is a major export.
France has 59 nuclear reactors operated by Electricite de France (EdF) with total capacity of over 63 GWe, supplying over 426 billion kWh per year of electricity, 78% of the total generated there. In 2005 French electricity generation was 549 billion kWh net and consumption 482 billion kWh – 7700 kWh per person. Over the last decade France has exported 60-70 billion kWh net each year. See also EdF web site.
The present situation is due to the French government deciding in 1974, just after the first oil shock, to expand rapidly the country’s nuclear power capacity. This decision was taken in the context of France having substantial heavy engineering expertise but few indigenous energy resources. Nuclear energy, with the fuel cost being a relatively small part of the overall cost, made good sense in minimising imports and achieving greater energy security.
As a result of the 1974 decision, France now claims a substantial level of energy independence and almost the lowest cost electricity in Europe. Over 90% of its electricity is nuclear or hydro.
From:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/readings/french.html
Civaux in southwestern France is a stereotypical rural French village with a square, a church and a small school. On a typical day, Monsieur Rambault, the baker, is up before dawn turning out baguettes and croissants. Shortly after, teacher Rene Barc opens the small school. There is a blacksmith, a hairdresser, a post office, a general store and a couple of bars.
But overlooking the picturesque hamlet are two giant cooling towers from a nuclear plant, still under construction, a half-mile away. When the Civaux nuclear power plant comes on line sometime in the next 12 months, France will have 56 working nuclear plants, generating 76% of her electricity.
In France, unlike in America, nuclear energy is accepted, even popular. Everybody I spoke to in Civaux loves the fact their region was chosen. The nuclear plant has brought jobs and prosperity to the area. Nobody I spoke to, nobody, expressed any fear.
From the village school teacher, Rene Barc, to the patron of the Cafe de Sport bar, Valerie Turbeau, any traces of doubt they might have had have faded as they have come to know plant workers, visited the reactor site and thought about the benefits of being part of France’s nuclear energy effort.
France’s decision to launch a large nuclear program dates back to 1973 and the events in the Middle East that they refer to as the “oil shock.” The quadrupling of the price of oil by OPEC nations was indeed a shock for France because at that time most of its electricity came from oil burning plants. France had and still has very few natural energy resources. It has no oil, no gas and her coal resources are very poor and virtually exhausted.
….
From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3177360.stm
As Europe struggles to deal with ever-increasing energy demands, France’s industry minister is backing a new generation of nuclear power stations.
….
Nuclear Boulevard.