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RE: I agree
By TomZ on 7/10/2007 10:11:06 AM , Rating: 3
The other energy production sources you mention also produce orders of magnitude more energy.

RE: I agree
By Shintai on 7/10/2007 10:18:20 AM , Rating: 2
How much area does a nuclear plant take as safety area? How much for the uranium mining? How much for waste disposal and treatment plants?

Each reactor might give you 10x more power. But the land that it requires for different security, safety and production grows really fast.

RE: I agree
By masher2 (blog) on 7/10/2007 10:39:11 AM , Rating: 5
> "Each reactor might give you 10x more power. "

More like 75-90 times as much power. The max MW rating of a solar plant is roughly 3X higher than its net output, due to cloud cover, the light-dark cycle, etc.

> "How much area does a nuclear plant take as safety area?"

That's already included in the base figure for plant size.

> "how much for the uranium mining?"

Very little. A few pounds of uranium will fuel your average reactor for a couple years. If you assume reprocessing, it'll supply it far longer than that. These aren't coal plants, which require millions of tons of fuel to operate.

RE: I agree
By drank12quartsstrohsbeer on 7/10/2007 11:39:11 AM , Rating: 2
> "how much for the uranium mining?"

I thought decommissioned weapons from the US and former soviet states were the main source of nuclear material now. ?

RE: I agree
By TomZ on 7/10/2007 12:45:46 PM , Rating: 3
Since March 1993, 250 metric tons of uranium from weapons have been transformed into fuel for nuclear power plants. That's the equivalent of 10,000 dismantled nuclear weapons. This is the result of the United States and the Russian Federation signing an agreement on the disposition and purchase of 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons, the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads.

I don't know what fraction of the total fuel demand that represents, however.

RE: I agree
By Ringold on 7/10/2007 6:48:48 PM , Rating: 2
The current low price for uranium is due to the glut of that Soviet-era material having been dumped on the market -- but I hear that excess has been nearly worked off. A good article in Christian Science Monitor recently detailing how all the old uranium mines from the Cold War days are roaring back to life -- often under foreign management.

RE: I agree
By noxipoo on 7/10/2007 2:18:20 PM , Rating: 2
and solar panels aren't made out of hugs and kisses. the mining and waste by products that goes into all that equipment grows really fast.


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