MajorMitchell wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:29 am
This is an important discussion, globally, within nations and at the community level, so thank you Kestsas & other contributors to this thread which has mainly discussed this issue in an Australian context.
As a preamble, I live in South Australia and have worked as a geophysics technician, mainly hunting for Gold & Copper, and also Uranium.
In my opinion our current federal government is held hostage by the "pro~coal mining, anti~Greens" MPs within it's ranks, particularly those from Queensland.
They're also using the nuclear debate as a political weapon against the Greens and moderates imho.
I am "ambivalent", undecided as to whether Australia should or should not "go nuclear", in my opinion we have to reduce our coal mining, cut out mining lower quality coal, eg those with med~ high sulphur content. If it's a choice between mining coal or agriculture, then we favour agriculture over new coal mines, same with coal seam gas, sustainable agriculture comes first.
We have to protect our agricultural industries and dealing with greenhouse gases, pollution is essential to protect our agricultural industries and environment.
Using coal to produce electricity is a dinosaur method, it's becoming economically less attractive and will cease being economically viable as alternative "renewable energy" technologies become more cost competitive. Hydrogen is the standout example of an emerging alternative, with Solar and Wind technologies already in use and only going to expand in Australia.
Two of our wealthiest, most intelligent business leaders, Andrew "Twiggy" Forest, an iron ore mining magnate and one of the founders of Atlassian, Mike Cannon Brooks(?) are both investing huge amounts of capital into renewable energy technologies, but not nuclear.
This notion that nuclear power is environmentally clean is a myth in my opinion, the facilities require huge amounts of steel and concrete, massive energy inputs plus financial costs to build, then there's the "end of use" clean up costs both financial and environmental, plus waste storage.
Nuclear power is a genetic term, does it mean Fusion or Fission? It's assumed to mean Fission because that's the technology used because we've, to some degree, mastered that process using enriched Uranium as "fuel".
The Hydrogen Fusion enthusiasts have been promising us "it's two or three decades away" for the last five decades... so I remain sceptical on that time frame, but we will keep trying & might eventually get there. Hydrogen Fusion solves the waste products safe storage problems.
Thorium, yes I do want "to go there"!
Like most things, using enriched Thorium as a fuel in nuclear fission reactors has it's pros and cons. It's an emerging nuclear technology I believe India is the only nation that currently uses enriched Thorium as a fuel in fission reactors to produce electricity, as well as using enriched Uranium as the principal fuel in its nuclear ~electrical power generation systems.
The singular most important advantage of using enriched Thorium as a fuel in nuclear fission reactors is the difference in lower and higher order elements created, albeit in minute amounts per Gigawatt of energy produced.
However if it's the do we get Plutonium or not question, which it is, then I think it of great importance.
That's the Archilles ' heel of using enriched Uranium as a fuel in Fission reactors, it produces Plutonium, without doubt at all, the most toxic element to humanity & just about every other living organisms on this planet that exists in all the elements.
Plutonium. With an incredibly long "half life"
No evolution of Fission reactor technologies using enriched Uranium will ever prevent it occurring.
Use enriched Thorium as a fuel in nuclear Fission reactors and yes you get higher and lower over elements in minute quantities per gigawatt of energy produced, but it's a different group of elements. Thorium and Uranium produce different decay chain elements. When used in Fission reactors, they produce different higher and lower order elements, it's that simple, and in my opinion, profoundly important when it's the do we get, or not get Plutonium question, with all the consequences (known and unknown) if we choose the "we'll have the Plutonium" option.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in our Cosmos, burns "clean" producing water in gaseous state & Australia gets plenty of Solar energy per square kilometre and has millions of square kilometres to harvest Solar energy, convert it to electricity at increasingly lower cost, so it's hard to ignore the potential synergies & clearly Twiggy Forest and Atlassian billionaire Mike CB are onto the opportunities, as are others.
We're getting Nuclear powered Submarines in 20 odd years from Santa Smirko and Uncle Joe Biden & British Bulldog Boris.
Australia's Lucas's Heights Nuclear facility should in my opinion be replaced with a new nuclear research facility with better facilities for producing radioactive materials we need mainly for medical use. Lucas's Heights was not surrounded by suburb when first built, now it is, and it should be replaced in my opinion.
Underground radioactive waste storage within Australia is a problem we have to solve, we have to have our own safe storage facility. The technologies need more investment , research and development.
I think it's inevitable that Australia will build a new nuclear facility and establish an underground radioactive water storage facility this century.
What we build, how we do it, for what purposes are important issues we have to discuss, we can't ignore it or others will make choices that benefit their interests, which may, or may not align with ours.
The Australian Political Coal Industry Puppets are great fodder for my Standup comedy. I have a routine about the Balzac Institute having 3 nuclear reactors, one to run the electric fences, one for our electro ~psychotherapy chairs, beds & other electrical devices used in treatments. One for when we need to boil the kettle to make tea or do research.
I cannot confirm or deny reports that the Balzac Institute has received a few billion from the taxpayers courtesy of Matty Coala~Canavan~cancan, Barrabas Joyce, Ms Sports Rorts Bridget fidgets McKenzie, Appalling Pauline Hans~on something grubby & Slim Gadabout Chwistensenwhippengarter the member for "Far Nirth Queensland in the Philippines strip clubs" (plus numerous bouncing cheques from Clivetoad Palmer & Nathan Tinker to use to light the pilot light on the reactor if it blows out) to do research into enriching Coal by bombarding it with high energy neutrons to develop the technology for making Enriched Coal Fuel Rods for Nuclear Reactors.
Just wait until the federal election campaign really kicks off, Clean Carbon14 and Coal Seam Gas will be the mantra up in regional Queensland from Smirko's gang.