Solar vs natural gas what do you think?

[Dick Foster]

I am an Environmental Engineer. Worked in the field for 30 years. In retirement I did a little consulting.

A few years ago I was involved in a permitting project to do a nuclear energy power plant expansion project in Texas.

The NRC required a section on the evaluation of alternative energy. We did a 250 page section in which we did an economic evaluation of solar, gas, thermal, wind, coal and oil.

None of them could compete with nuclear. Natural gas came in second, oil third and coal forth. No thermal.

Solar and wind were completely out of the picture.

To produce as much energy as the nuclear power plant expansion they would have to cover the entire Texas county in solar collectors.

Wind was just as bad.

Counties in Texas are huge, by the way.

Coal would have come in second, even with stringent environmental controls, except for the fact they would have had to expand the railroad system to deliver the coal.

Where did they get the reactor vessel? ...

If you knew anything about nuclear, apparently you don't, you'd know that with a thorium fueled LFTR no containment is needed.

 

[ReinyDays]

If you knew anything about nuclear, apparently you don't, you'd know that with a thorium fueled LFTR no containment is needed.

Are you seriously suggesting that I can burn Thorium in a mixing bowl on my kitchen counter? ... clarify yourself, we don't need any kind of container? ... that's nuts ...

Thorium is an alpha emitter, we'll need at least a cardboard box ... I honestly thought we had to be hot enough to melt the salt in the primary circulation system ... maybe a steel box ... cyclone fence to keep the kiddlettes out ... just say we can do this in an open field, hook up the wires to the grid ... go ahead, I dare you ...

I don't know the half-life of U-232 in these LFTR's ... do you? ...