You may find this report as fascinating as I did. The author is former Chancellor of Duke University and an economist with 30 years experience in estimating energy costs. His report shows that the cost of solar electricity in North Carolina is now cheaper than nuclear, that nuclear costs are projected to continue to climb while solar costs will keep coming down. The data clearly show this historic crossover occurs in 2010, this year. Furthermore, given the 6-10 years needed to construct a plant, the cost imbalance will be even greater by the time a new nuclear plant is built. The report is available at:
Use this the next time someone tries to argue that we need nukes as a solution to global warming.
Jim Kotcon
Hugh Mitchell goshawk@FRONTIERNET.NET> 7/16/2010 9:17 PM >> (
mailto:goshawk@FRONTIERNET.NET> )
Abstract from New York Times article, Sunday, 7/11/10 “A New Analysis Triples Plutonium Waste Figures”
“The amount of plutonium buried at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State is nearly Three times what the federal government previously reported, a new analysis indicates, suggesting that a cleanup To protect future generations will be far more challenging that planners had assumed.”
“The fear is that in a few hundred years [plutonium is radioactive for 24,000 years half-life] plutonium could Reach an underground area called the saturation zone, where water flows, and from there enter the Columbia River.”
“So far, the cleanup, which began in the 1990’s, has involved moving some contaminated material near the banks of the Columbia to drier locations.
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/science/earth/11plutonium.html?src=mv
Hugh Mitchell Atlantic Chapter, Rochester