Judge's ruling questions nuclear power expansion

[kristopher]

Source: Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) - A ruling by a Fulton County judge has called into question the expansion of a nuclear power plant in eastern Georgia.

Environmental advocates say Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob ruled from the bench Friday that the state's Public Service Commission failed to adequately explain the reasoning when it allowed Georgia Power to try to build two new reactors at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro. If built, it would be the first U.S. groundbreaking of a nuclear power plant in 30 years.

Commission spokesman Bill Edge said he had not seen the ruling yet and could not immediately comment. Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson said construction on Vogtle will continue as planned.

The Southern Alliance For Clean Energy filed a lawsuit last year trying to block the project....

Read more: http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12408174

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I look forward to hearing the explanation by the PSC.

[NecklyTyler]

1. Nuclear power is anything but "clean energy"

Radioactive waste from reactor operations is not clean. Plus the high level waste takes centuries to lose its radioactive danger. We don't need any more nuclear reactors

[Stumbler]

2. Agreed. Two more items to point out

The material required to operate a nuclear plant must still be mined from the ground, severely altering the local environment where it's extracted. Plus each nuclear plant requires vast amounts of water to cool the rods - and that water is heated greatly before being discharged back into the local environment.

Nuke plants are bad ideas all around.

[TheMadMonk]

4. So do resources for construction. Far more ground is dug over for iron, aluminum,...

...copper, gold, zinc, etc. than will ever be dug into for nuclear fuels.

The "vast amounts of water" problem can be addressed in part with reactors that safely operate at higher temperatures, by locating them on the coast where thermal impact can be minimised by dispersing the outflow over an extended area. Or harness it to create artificial nutrient plumes.

Solar thermal also uses massive quantities of water, as does coal. Photovoltaic requires huge quantites of highly toxic chemicals to manufacture. Service roads for wind turbines are huge disruptions to the landscape. Everything has it's drawbacks.

[crikkett]

8. I think locating a nuclear plant on the coastline is a big mistake.

And locating it inland, in Georgia, is another big mistake. Consider their recent drought.

I'd be interested in learning more about molten salt reactors, I read that this type of nuclear reactor can use nuclear waste to generate energy (the byproduct being a much less toxic nuclear waste, by the way - 200 year half-life instead of 10,000 years).

BTW Photovoltaic is becoming less toxic by the day. At least that's what Google tells me.

[crikkett]

5. And, consider Georgia's recent drought. n/t

[wordpix]

3. agreed and Pres O is misinformed about this

[jpak]

6. K&R

yup

[jpak]

7. K&R

yup