The NRC concluded mandatory hearings on the request for licenses at the Vogtle site 26 miles southeast of Augusta Georgia. The NRC has approved issuance of combined operating licenses to the Southern Nuclear Operating Company.
Having witnessed all the argument, debate and climategate regarding CO2 emissions and climate change, as well as the EPA’s recent stand down on the boiler rule, we couldn’t help but think that the environmentalists would be opening sodas and singing Kum By Ya over these new non- fossil fuel, non CO2 emitting, sources of energy.
However, something tells me that it may be a bit early for Kum By Ya- Here are a couple of stickers that we think tells what the environmentalist are thinking:
We are pleased to see that the NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards independently reviewed aspects of the application that concern safety, as well as the draft of the Staff’s Final Safety Evaluation Report.
We are even more pleased that the reactor design includes passive safety features that would cool down the reactor after an accident without need for electricity or human intervention.
But until our nation has a serious discussion about how to intelligently manage ALL RISKS- and develops a policy to intelligently manage them, we will be subjected to more fear mongering and pseudo-science from all sides.
How do we properly evaluate the risks (and costs) of our continued burn of fossil fuels versus those associated with Nuclear energy?
I’d like your answer to this, what is the proper lens to evaluate the risk rewards of these decisions?
Bubba Bubba says:
We hear over and over about new sources of energy, yet so little about conservation. We cannot continue in this insane mode that is obviously not sustainable.
Big Bob says:
It is interesting that the “ecologists” pretty much shut down the nuclear power industry in the ’70s, and then the “environmentalists” ignored their predecessors, and look at it to be a CO2 bonanza…well, until there was a rude reminder in Japan about storage, et. al. So, I usually don’t look at the environment sector as a solid lead for energy direction. They generally chase their tail a lot.