Three Mile Island nuclear plant shuts down unexpectedly

[DallasCowpoke]

Three Mile Island nuclear plant shuts down unexpectedly


The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant shut down unexpectedly this afternoon, releasing steam containing radiation "below detectable levels," a utility spokesman told WHTM-TV.

Exelon spokesman Ray DeSantis said that the plant shut down automatically at 2:20 p.m. ET and that the cause was not immediately known. He did not identify which of the plant's two reactors was involved.

 

[jobberone]

Wonder how much noise we'll hear over this??

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Considering that the radium on wristwatches is detectable, we're going to hear a WHOLE lot more than we should.

Fear mongering sells.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Considering that the radium on wristwatches is detectable, we're going to hear a WHOLE lot more than we should.

Fear mongering sells.

Sure does. The pro-nuke crowd sold a lot of fear about not having enough power in Japan over the summer. The fears never materialized as the Japanese actually cut their usage by about 12% if I recall correctly. Turns out the Japanese didn't need those two nuke plants at Osaka which just started up. Just the actual Osaka area would have had a little shortage but could have easily made up for it by getting excess power from nearby areas. And this was one of the hottest summers on record for the Japanese. Didn't need those two nuke plants afterall. What a shame.

Speaking of fear? Where are all those power outages and shortages in Japan the pro-nuke crowd said were imminent?

A nuke plant shutting down for no reason? That is not good. Better identify the root cause ASAP.

 

[jobberone]

Sure does. The pro-nuke crowd sold a lot of fear about not having enough power in Japan over the summer. The fears never materialized as the Japanese actually cut their usage by about 12% if I recall correctly. Turns out the Japanese didn't need those two nuke plants at Osaka which just started up. Just the actual Osaka area would have had a little shortage but could have easily made up for it by getting excess power from nearby areas. And this was one of the hottest summers on record for the Japanese. Didn't need those two nuke plants afterall. What a shame.

Speaking of fear? Where are all those power outages and shortages in Japan the pro-nuke crowd said were imminent?

A nuke plant shutting down for no reason? That is not good. Better identify the root cause ASAP.

This is bullflop. The real question to ask is how expensive was the cost of energy in the short term (not greatly important at all as long as there is enough energy) and what do the plants mean to Japan and the world's economy in the long term. Excessive energy can be sold.

The costs per kilowatt hour of energy for nuclear and coal are by far the cheapest. Nuclear is even cheaper because reactors tend to produce power for 60 rather than 40 years (accepted amortization of production and decommission costs). Green energy isn't even of the same order.

Mankind will make another great leap forward when fusion goes commercial.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Wonder how much noise we'll hear over this??

That's a political issue. One side will likely report it to death and the other will act as if it never happened.

It's the political season.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

This is bullflop. The real question ...

The costs per kilowatt hour of energy for nuclear and coal are by far the cheapest. Nuclear is even cheaper because reactors tend to produce power for 60 rather than 40 years (accepted amortization of production and decommission costs). Green energy isn't even of the same order.

Mankind will make another great leap forward when fusion goes commercial.

This? What is this you are refering to? The power shortage fears in Japan that never materialized? Welcome to reality. Sorry.

And nuclear power ain't so cheap when you factor in the regulatory costs and waste disposal. Oh, and by the way, where are you going to store all the radioactive waste? Those spent fuel pools are filling up. What a wonderful idea presently in place: just put it in a big open bathtub near the reactor. I believe Japan has enough room to store more fuel for about 7 years at current usage rates and then that is it, no more room. And no one wants that radioactive crap.

And Nevada don't want the US radioactive crap either. Even though the government spent tens of billions building a storage area in the desert. Nuke plants are going to get more and more expensive.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

This? What is this you are refering to? The power shortage fears in Japan that never materialized? Welcome to reality. Sorry.

And nuclear power ain't so cheap when you factor in the regulatory costs and waste disposal. Oh, and by the way, where are you going to store all the radioactive waste? Those spent fuel pools are filling up. What a wonderful idea presently in place: just put it in a big open bathtub near the reactor. I believe Japan has enough room to store more fuel for about 7 years at current usage rates and then that is it, no more room. And no one wants that radioactive crap.

And Nevada don't want the US radioactive crap either. Even though the government spent tens of billions building a storage area in the desert. Nuke plants are going to get more and more expensive.

Wow!!!! OMGeeez! Somebody better call the nuclear power plant owners and let them know they need to include regulatory costs and disposal in the sales prices of their electricity.

Seriously? You think nobody figured in those costs?

For what its worth, spent nuclear rods can be reprocessed, reused, and recycled. It just happens to be cheaper to buy new nuclear material.

Nuclear plants are going to become more and more attractive as power producing centers compared to oil and coal fired plants, as if they weren't more attractive already.

 

[jobberone]

This? What is this you are refering to? The power shortage fears in Japan that never materialized? Welcome to reality. Sorry.

And nuclear power ain't so cheap when you factor in the regulatory costs and waste disposal. Oh, and by the way, where are you going to store all the radioactive waste? Those spent fuel pools are filling up. What a wonderful idea presently in place: just put it in a big open bathtub near the reactor. I believe Japan has enough room to store more fuel for about 7 years at current usage rates and then that is it, no more room. And no one wants that radioactive crap.

And Nevada don't want the US radioactive crap either. Even though the government spent tens of billions building a storage area in the desert. Nuke plants are going to get more and more expensive.

I think you should bone up on costs of energy because decommission and production costs are considered for nuclear so its comparable to solar, fuel or wind which all have their production/start up costs included as well. You need to look at a good cross section of studies as some studies are better than others. There are new techniques for deposing of waste products as well as converting weapons material into reactor fuel. See the SRS methods.

So no production, decommission/disposal costs are still going to be very competitive with coal and likely stay a little cheaper with the costs of newer and cleaner coal plants. You can't touch nuclear fuel for costs with anything else and safety is a matter of following protocol.

Fuel, coal, and nuclear will keep us in the game until fusion goes commercial and mankind will begin a new era. Greening deserts for occupation and food production via desalination will also provide fresh water for consumption and irrigations/waste disposal. And much more. The prosperity of the last 150 years will look very small in comparison.

 

[YosemiteSam]

We should convert all power generation to renewable or nuclear and as soon as fusion is viable, then fusion too.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Interestingly enough, Japan has recently reactivated two Nuclear Power Plant reactors since July of this year.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Greening deserts for occupation and food production via desalination will also provide fresh water for consumption and irrigations/waste disposal. And much more.

I've been working on that since the beginning of 2011, along with saline agriculture for developing areas of the western part of the Sahara, specifically Western Sahara and Morocco.