: That is why Italy can not stop
receive from a reader and commentator on technology issues to publish this article order to contribute to the debate on nuclear power, which of course is open to all
I decided to write this article conscious of exposing myself to public ridicule to make clear the sea of \u200b\u200binaccuracies and scientific nonsense that I read in the last days on the nuclear issue. I make a
Abstract: This article is very long because the issue in question requires a more than exhaustive. The fact is that while respecting the right that everyone has to accept or reject a technology such as nuclear, I am convinced it is necessary to correctly inform the consciences of voters back home.
The nuclear debate these days is getting more heated, especially in the beautiful country where, alas, soon we are going to vote for a referendum on nuclear power. And this (I say unfortunately) just behind the tsunami triggered by the facts of emotional Japan.
First we make a point: the nuclear vote against the referendum does not mean to vote against the existing nuclear power plants in the first and second generation (which does not exist in Italy).
vote against the nuclear means
vote against the deployment of a technology to exploit the power of 'atom which is based on principles of operation totally different from those implemented in older plants. The old plants would remain in operation, with all the dangers (but are scarce even in this case) resulting therefrom.
not make the mistake of thinking that the referendum would remove the central that the French have built around us . You know how many? Many, many, more than you can imagine. Look at the chart at the bottom of this report:
http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/uran.htm
The referendum so it goes against the old central and the possible dangers they represent, (ricordatevelo!) but runs counter to the implementation of third-and fourth-generation power plants, built for example for the Auto-off reaction in the event of a nuclear accident.
What does this mean? It means that in the old central (The Japanese for instance), once triggered the nuclear reaction in fissile material, all that man can do is try to "keep it at bay" , suppressing the reaction with various tricks. In the case of 'accident such as Chernobyl, the nuclear core is beyond human control for a variety of reasons (mainly due to errors in the interpretation of the parameters of core cooling) and then the disaster we all know.
The central third or better in the fourth generation are different from the principle of operation. The core is designed with the tendency to switch off. To keep it running requires continuous human intervention . In case of failure or disaster, the unit switches off without any problems and there is no way that can escape supervision. Then it works just the opposite: if the human operator or cooling systems work, then the nuclear reaction takes place. If they lack the proper functioning of any party control that are around the reactor (mechanical or human), the reactor is turned off. No bang, no radioactive cloud, no nuclear holocaust.
If Italy were a serious country, the referendum on nuclear power, given the importance of the topic, would be accompanied by a panel discussion broadcast on unified networks, where experts in the field have the opportunity to respond live without fear of contradiction to the concerns of the more outlandish theories as to the holocaust . Theories as well as being the fault of weird people to find accommodation in the mouth of some of our politicians. say the mouth and not in the head because if you think that Italian politicians are of the moral caliber to actually say what they think, will make the rich illusions . They ride the wave one and only election, in order to pursue its short-term interests in the expense of long-term interests of the whole Italian population. I do not think of having to prove anything in this regard.
An 'other information that eludes most
is the nature of "clean" plants of the fourth generation. It means that these new power plants burn more than 90% of the fissile fuel. What else? Means high efficiency, but also means a flood
less waste. Indeed ZERO waste. At this point one might say that while burning 90% of nuclear fuel, a 4th generation nuclear power still produces 10% of slag (
http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/spring01/reactors.html ).
True, but waste are different. The waste of the old plants, employing about 10,000 years to lose radioactivity. The waste of the new central clerical only 200 years to become harmless. Two hundred years on a geological scale, but also are a human blink of an eye and their management would be immensely easier of the old wastes.
But there is something else that people are not aware. Those who say NO to the new generation of nuclear power plants on 'emotional wave of preserving the environment for the benefit of their children, do not know that nuclear plants would help 4 ^ enus paradoxically to consume nuclear waste produced by old plants, solving a longstanding problem.
But as I personally am for or against nuclear power? In principle I do not like the system because it relies on the consumption of nonrenewable resources. But since the world does not work on principle but on practical facts, I prefer to be pragmatic. Today nuclear power is the only source of supply of energy capable of meeting the present demands for energy (which continue to grow). And renewables? Great thing, you will come to use those one day but not today. For the simple reason that all put together would not be able to provide even half 's energy demands our lifestyle. careful, I'm talking about available technologies and not on paper prototypes whose implementation is far from 'be immediate.
then analyze them, but making the effort to analyze them in an all-Italian, just because the arguments are, in principle, only smoke.
WIND ENERGY FEASIBILITY 'GEOGRAPHICAL : Italy' s not the Netherlands or Denmark. We certainly windy, but the Italian territory is not suitable in its entirety. The noise of the blades is annoying at night.
FEASIBILITY 'POLICY : the average Italian has a short memory. He has forgotten that the first opposition against the implementation of wind turbines in Italy were in fact the Greens and the leaders of the LAV.
The Greens said that because maintenance requirements of the blades requiring the construction of service roads of concrete in areas maybe included in natural parks (I never understood why they had immediately rejected the idea of \u200b\u200bthem unpaved). Those of LAV because wind turbines actually sometimes slice some pigeon. Always to remember the mentality of 'average Italian, the'
Italy is the country that has decided to oppose the construction the bridge over the Strait of Messina, Sicily, preferring to maintain in a state of decay rather than disturb the phases of '
pair of anchovies.
COST-CAPACITY A ' PRODUCTION: poor, very poor. A shovel large can at best supply of energy to get to a neighborhood.
GREEN FACTOR: high, once produced the blades remain in office, without polluting for a long time
HYDROPOWER FEASIBILITY 'GEOGRAPHICAL : High: Italy is full of rivers and valleys. But to produce all the electricity we need the hydro we fill all our rivers and our valleys of concrete dams. FEASIBILITY
'POLICY: The dam is good as a solution at all, except the inhabitants of the towns nearby. It does not have a point because in the case of structural failure, for example due to an earthquake, flood wave generated by the collapse of the dam would wipe everything and everyone. Remember the tragedy of Vajont?
http://www.vajont.net/ COST-CAPACITY 'PRODUCTION : high. Hydroelectric power plants cost a lot but are able to remain in operation for more than one hundred years GREEN FACTOR: the environmental impact of a dam is devastating. Entire valleys are processed, all the surrounding fauna and flora are eliminated.
SOLAR :
FEASIBILITY 'GEOGRAPHICAL : good, especially in central and southern Italy.
Beware, Messina is not the Sahara!
FEASIBILITY 'POLICY : high, so the panels will pay citizens COST PRODUCTION CAPACITY : very little. A solar panel is unable to produce even 100% of 'hot water necessary for a household with 4 people. Nor is it able to produce electricity enough. The concept is great but until the efficiency average of a panel is around 15% conversion of light into energy, the spread will be low, given the costs quite high (despite the incentives, which are taken for a ride, because the money always come from the state our pockets).
GREEN FACTOR: Medium. Once installed last on average only 15-20 years and should be replaced with new panels, whose cost is productive in terms of ecological balance are high.
tidal :
FEASIBILITY 'GEOGRAPHICAL : Nothing, Italy does not have the kind of large tides needed to political feasibility work that technology, but please! In 30 years we have been able to finish installing the MOSE in Venice ...
COST-CAPACITY 'PRODUCTION : good, if we had the tide of New Zealand.
GREEN FACTOR: Medium, maintenance is expensive and would be carried forward with motor vehicles
BIOFUELS:
FEASIBILITY 'GEOGRAPHICAL : good, Italy is a land eminently agricultural FEASIBILITY POLICY: nothing. Our farmers take to the streets to protest the shooting manure milk quotas, let alone what they would do if forced to re-crop.
COST-CAPACITY 'PRODUCTION : no one has yet understood GREEN FACTOR: medium, bio fuels create less pollution, but polluting.
ZERO POINT ENERGY / ENERGY FEASIBILITY OVERRUN 'GEOGRAPHICAL : high, Italy is the perfect country, full of suckers ready to believe the first scientific nonsense.
FEASIBILITY 'POLICY : even higher. Italian politicians to mastellianamente happy while his constituents would be able to allocate public funds for research in this sense, knowing that they are throwing money into the wind.
COST-CAPACITY 'PRODUCTION : nothing. is a hoax. It can not work because with today's technologies we are able to extract large amounts of energy from the zero point (bubbling quantum).
The same scientists also disagree on how much energy we could possibly escape the cosmic void.
GREEN FACTOR: high. Not working hard and does not pollute much. Perfect for some gullible people of my acquaintance.
Also, if we were to build installations that use all these forms of alternative energy we would still be able to support the national energy requirements . But remember this when you go to vote!
To explain the paradox of nuclear power in general I use the comparison with the trains. It is now considered the most efficient and environmentally friendly on the planet. And with good reason. But people forget that before the current drive superefficenti (such as red arrow), the locomotives were diesel. And those were the first locomotives that burn coal and pollute a lot, probably killing most of the atom.
Yet no one in the civilized world today would dream of banning the new generation of locomotives (except in Italy, where Greens prefer to stop the construction of tunnels for high speed, maintaining the status quo of a congested road network by road diesel trucks). Why in the world with nuclear
you can not use the same attitude?
Finally, a question that no one bothers to do more:
which is the social cost of not being independent from the energy point of view? The response we give it its the Japanese entered the war on December 7, 1941 because their oil supplies were running out. Were folded with a nuclear bomb American and yet, they learned their lesson and are endowed immediately NPP, to avoid having to do a 'last war for the provisioning of energy.
One note: the accident of the central Fukushima not a defeat but a victory of nuclear power. The fact is that people tend to forget decontextualise the incident happened on an island that houses a total of 55 nuclear power plants first generation (40 years old) suffered a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated by a ratio of Bible. HOWEVER not yet been any nuclear holocaust. Do I have to give credit to this discussion to 'excellent Oscar Giannino.
course, there is a third way and is that of reducing consumption. Me and my wife has a 'hybrid car. Yet when I drive the hybrid, I can get on roads extrraurbane 3.3 liters per 100 km while my companion did not fall below 6.5 liters per 100 km.
Yet we drive the same car. The difference is that I pay attention to how I drive, she did not.
She is also one that leaves the lamp on his bedside constantly lit, even during the day and while away from home. I'm running around all the time for the whole family off the lights they leave on.
They are all intelligent people in my house but look at me as if I were an alien. The truth is that anyone interested in making today half step back.
Yet it would be enough to put a minimum of attention to reduce our consumption to 40% without having to dramatically change our way of life.
And this is perhaps the most immediate response to all our questions.