Is the nuclear option really practical, feasible? - Prof Ewing - Univ of Michigan asks the question.

[JohnWxy]

http://www.energybulletin.net/21625.html


"...University of Michigan professor Rodney Ewing, who has analyzed just how much nuclear power would need to be produced to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, and the implications of the associated increase in nuclear power plants. Ewing will present his findings Oct. 23 as the Michel T. Halbouty Distinguished Lecturer at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Philadelphia.

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His presentation, which considers various fuel cycles, shows that nuclear power generation would need to increase by a factor of three to ten over current levels to have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. "We currently have 400-plus nuclear reactors operating worldwide, and we would need something like 3,500 nuclear power plants," Ewing said.

Developing the necessary nuclear technologies and building the additional power plants is an enormous undertaking that probably would take longer than the 50 years that experts say we have in which to come up with solutions to global warming, Ewing said.

Even if they could be built and brought online quickly, that many power plants would generate tens of thousands of metric tons of additional nuclear waste annually. "The amount that would be created each year would be equal to the present capacity anticipated at the repository at Yucca Mountain," Ewing said, referring to the proposed disposal site in Nevada that has been under study for more than two decades. Ewing recently co-edited a book, "Uncertainty Underground," that reviews uncertainties in the analysis of the long-term performance of the Yucca Mountain repository.
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Is the nuclear option realistic, or IMAGINARY? Maybe these practical consideratins should be given some thought before we further commit the earth to a radioactive future (at least for some several thousands, of years). Even if we could find the space for all that toxic waste, nobody really knows if the stuff can be isolated from the environment for thousands of years (there are plenty who doubt it's possible).


----Prof. Ewing's link:

http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/relw/groupmembers/ewing/ewing.htm

Rodney C. Ewing
Donald R. Peacor Collegiate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan

William Kerr Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan.

Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan

Adjungeret Professor of Geology, Aarhus University, Denmark - press release

Emeritus Regents' Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of New Mexico.

Address:
Dept. of Geological Sciences
The University of Michigan
2534 C.C. Little Building
1100 N. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]