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Started by Beorning, September 21, 2014, 07:02:11 AM

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TheGlyphstone

And when you dont take care of it properly (i.e. Chernobyl, a poster-checklist for everything you should not do when your nuclear reactor is malfunctioning), this happens.

LisztesFerenc

  Yeah, I'm split on nuclear power. On the one hand, it took criminal mismanagement and one of the most powerful earthquakes in history to cause nuclear trouble respectively, whilst oil spills require far less of a nudge to fuck up the environment. On the other hand, the impact from nuclear accidents tend to be harder to quantify and possibly longer lasting.

Aethereal

        The aftereffects of the more recent Japan accident were practically nil. The highest numbers they measured were decidedly under natural soil radiation in many locations here, for instance... Life on Earth has evolved to put up with some radiation (to the point where too little radiation can also have adverse health effects).

TheGlyphstone

I'm cautiously but enthusiastically proponent of nuclear power for very similar reasons. Fukushima was the runner-up in nuclear disasters of all time, its long-term effects are projected to be comparatively small, and it was almost 50 years old itself. That it could withstand what it did with the comparative level of damage it suffered, relative to what it could have been, says to me that a properly designed modern nuclear power plant might have suffered even less damage. We know more about how to contain radioactive waste safely, and how to clean up leaks more effectively, but nuclear energy still lingers as the boogeyman fear of the Cold War era, and it's anethema to both major US political parties. The Right won't back it because it threatens the primacy of fossil fuels and their respective industries. The Left reviles it because of its potential environmental effects. Between the two, I sympathize far more with the Left's worries, but between modern construction techniques, modern safety procedures, and little details like most of the US not being subject to earthquakes or tsunamis, we could have reactors the next best thing to indestructible barring an apocalyptic event like the Yellowstone supervolcano blowing its top.

And ultimately, I want money going into nuclear power research because I want to see human beings in space again, and some form of nuclear energy is currently the only feasible option we have for long-distance interplanetary or interstellar travel. By the time we're ready to launch a manned or unmanned mission to another star system, we'll have worked out the kinks - and if we can just get reliable and cheap surface-to-orbit travel, we've got the biggest and baddest and cheapest nuclear waste disposal dump in existence right next door astronomically, neatly eliminating the problem of storage.

Far eyes

Eeeh the problem with the nuclear powered dream *Waves to the middle 50s* is that nuclear reactors do in fact produce unusable but still radioactive material the Germans and the French have been playing hot cakes with that shit for years and years

http://www.dw.com/en/germany-draws-up-new-plan-to-dispose-of-nuclear-waste/a-18645069

I believe this is the current best we can manage, bury it deep and hope really hard noting happens. I dont know about you but personally i find that a little problematic.

And yes the oil reserves are finite and in fact, there are some projections about current consumption and possible time frames of running the fuck out. The numbers are wonky and change a lot depending on ware you look so i am not going add them but they do exist. 

Current solar and wind technology has advanced but its unlikely to meat demands.

Personally i see Nuclear power as a shitty option, but we really do not have a better one currently. The big problem with it is its a shit option thats going to hang around even when we find a better one. 
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TheGlyphstone

Hence my last point about using it as the catalyst to get into space. Right now, carrying our nuclear waste into orbit and dumping it into the sun isn't economically feasible. If we can make it so, then the #1 problem with nuclear power - waste disposal - goes away.

Zakharra

 If I remember correctly, nuclear waste from the first and second gen plants (the older ones) can be processed as fuel for newer plants, and there are some nuclear reactors being designed and in testing that don't use uranium or plutonium at all, but a kind of thorium and salt, and if there is a problem with the plant, ie it loses power or something, the reactor shuts down. It literally cannot overload and go critical. 

Nuclear power is the best and cleanest and most abundant form of energy we will have access to in the foreseeable future. Solar, wind and water simply cannot supply our high tech needs with enough energy or reliably.

Oniya

Quote from: Zakharra on April 25, 2016, 07:07:27 PM
If I remember correctly, nuclear waste from the first and second gen plants (the older ones) can be processed as fuel for newer plants, and there are some nuclear reactors being designed and in testing that don't use uranium or plutonium at all, but a kind of thorium and salt, and if there is a problem with the plant, ie it loses power or something, the reactor shuts down. It literally cannot overload and go critical. 

Nuclear power is the best and cleanest and most abundant form of energy we will have access to in the foreseeable future. Solar, wind and water simply cannot supply our high tech needs with enough energy or reliably.

Just as a note, 'salt' in the context of thorium reactors refers to a fluorine compound - not the stuff you sprinkle on fries.  The failsafe mechanism is kind of interesting - there's a plug that requires active cooling.  If the power goes out, the plug melts and drains the liquid fuel into a passively cooled dump-tank.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_fluoride_thorium_reactor#Safety
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Inkidu

Just saw on the local news that actual state flags are being removed from state capitol buildings because they have "images of the confederate flag".

Some of those flags predate the Civil War by a number of years.

I knew this was going to happen. *Headdesk*

If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Kythia

I mean, that's obviously not true though is it?  The Confederate Flag doesn't predate the civil war, how the hell would a flag containing it predate the civil war? 

And yeah.  Looking in to it more, Mississippi is the only state flag containing the confederate flag and it was adopted about thirty years after the end of the civil war.
242037

Far eyes

Speaking from experience, people get really fucking stupid about flags.
What a man says: "Through roleplaying, I want to explore the reality of the female experience and gain a better understanding of what it means to be a woman."

What he means: "I like lesbians".
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TaintedAndDelish

Quote from: Far eyes on April 25, 2016, 03:16:12 PM
Personally i see Nuclear power as a shitty option, but we really do not have a better one currently. The big problem with it is its a shit option thats going to hang around even when we find a better one.

I would feel better about nuclear if we had a way to neutralize it and a way to treat people who have been poisoned by it.

Regarding it being a clean energy, is it really all that clean when you factor in the longer term issues with waste that stays hot for millions of years and the risks of poisoning? If you overlook the nastiness then, yes, it's clean hands down, but that's not looking at the whole picture.

TheGlyphstone

Quote from: TaintedAndDelish on April 26, 2016, 12:58:50 AM
I would feel better about nuclear if we had a way to neutralize it and a way to treat people who have been poisoned by it.

Regarding it being a clean energy, is it really all that clean when you factor in the longer term issues with waste that stays hot for millions of years and the risks of poisoning? If you overlook the nastiness then, yes, it's clean hands down, but that's not looking at the whole picture.

The thing is that the waste, if properly stored, is a non-issue right up until we run out of space to store it, which will take a hell of a long time. Compared to the more active-pollutant alternatives, it's very much 'clean'...you're not overlooking the nastiness so much as you are taking a very long-term gamble that future scientists will develop a solution*, and in the short term (defined here as hundreds to a thousand-odd years), you're doing far less environmental damage than fossil fuels put out.

*which could either be a means of getting the waste off Earth, a means of de-contaminating it, or (preferably in combination with one of the above), a means of getting Humans off Earth and a place to send them.

Inkidu

#2963
Quote from: Kythia on April 25, 2016, 10:32:41 PM
I mean, that's obviously not true though is it?  The Confederate Flag doesn't predate the civil war, how the hell would a flag containing it predate the civil war? 

And yeah.  Looking in to it more, Mississippi is the only state flag containing the confederate flag and it was adopted about thirty years after the end of the civil war.
No, I'm not saying that. That's what the news said. What they are doing though is removing any Southern State flag with red, white, blue, and/or an X in it. Like the Alabama state flag.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/04/alabama_flag_among_state_banne.html

Despite the fact that while yes the modern flag was adopted in 1895 there are a dozen other flags in the world that use the thrillingly unique red X on white background. Heck tip it one way and it's Welsh English.

This just happens to be in the Southern United States and vaguely (and I mean very vaguely) looks like the confederate battle flag of Robert E. Lee.

People just have to take it too far.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Beorning

Speaking of nuclear power, today is the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

I actually remember when it happened. I was a kindergarten kid at the time and we were taken to drink the anti-radiation liquid that day (or one of the following days). I can't be sure, but I think that people were scared...

LisztesFerenc

Quote from: Inkidu on April 26, 2016, 04:35:54 AMDespite the fact that while yes the modern flag was adopted in 1895 there are a dozen other flags in the world that use the thrillingly unique red X on white background. Heck tip it one way and its Welsh.

  The Welsh flag is a red dragon on a green and white background. You'tr thinking of another country. Maybe the English?

Inkidu

Quote from: LisztesFerenc on April 26, 2016, 05:03:55 AM
  The Welsh flag is a red dragon on a green and white background. You'tr thinking of another country. Maybe the English?
I'm sorry, you're right. Thanks.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Kythia

242037


Anteros

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Far eyes

*Facepalm*

Oh yah no no his leg is broken but the spaghetti monster will fix it. Sigh.
In general i have noting against faith and religion in a way i almost wish i could manage it, this is the kind i fucking hate.
What a man says: "Through roleplaying, I want to explore the reality of the female experience and gain a better understanding of what it means to be a woman."

What he means: "I like lesbians".
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Lustful Bride

#2971
Quote from: Far eyes on April 26, 2016, 10:38:11 PM
*Facepalm*

Oh yah no no his leg is broken but the spaghetti monster will fix it. Sigh.
In general i have noting against faith and religion in a way i almost wish i could manage it, this is the kind i fucking hate.

Yeah I'm with you there. This is a situation of "This is why we cant have nice things"

*Sigh*


Edit: Whenever I see shit like this where people expect God to do all the work for them, it makes me think of this story.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

God Will Save Me

A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.

A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”

The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”

As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”

The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”

The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.

A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, "Grab my hand and I will pull you up!" But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”

Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.

When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”

And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”


Doctors are God's way of doing the work without directly interfering.

Lustful Bride


Far eyes

Oh more of this moronic shit, well at least they are calling it what it is now. I mean yey honesty, still a bunch of idiots but yey honesty.
What a man says: "Through roleplaying, I want to explore the reality of the female experience and gain a better understanding of what it means to be a woman."

What he means: "I like lesbians".
A/A
https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=180557.0

Lustful Bride

Quote from: Far eyes on April 27, 2016, 01:27:48 PM
Oh more of this moronic shit, well at least they are calling it what it is now. I mean yey honesty, still a bunch of idiots but yey honesty.

If you ask me, it doesn't have shit to really do with LGBT and trans people. Its just about setting a precedent for dealing with 'troublemakers' should they have need for it in the future.