Reprocessing Nuclear Wastes

A recent article in the Seattle Times brings to light some of the main issues in the argument against the reprocessing of nuclear waste.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014001657_hanford23m.html?syndication=rss

At Hanford, WA, the proposed vitrification process aims to solidify 53 million gallons of military liquid wastes now stored in leaky tanks. These wastes were produced many years ago from the “reprocessing” of nuclear high level fuel rods in order to extract plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. The wastes were originally dumped into single shelled tanks, which are now leaking; and the past 15 or so years have been spent building new double walled tanks to store the waste in the interim. The vitrification plant under construction would take the liquid waste, evaporate off the water, mix the resultant radioactive fission products with sand at an extremely high temperature, and fuse the materials into a glass-log like product that could then be inserted into a metal container for ultimate disposal in a geologic repository such as Yucca Mountain.

When a fuel rod is “spent”, it is removed from the nuclear reactor. It’s material composition is about 95% Uranium 238, 1% U235, 1% Plutonium, and 3% highly radioactive fission products. The concept of reprocessing is to retrieve and recycle the U238, 235, Plutonium (which is fissionable) into new fuel rods for the next generation of reactors. One strong concern is that this Plutonium could be diverted into nuclear weapons or terrorist bombs.

If we do turn to reprocessing for commercial nuclear wastes, we would eventually wind up with hundreds of millions, billions, ??? of gallons of caustic, radioactive liquid wastes that would have to be treated. How many reprocessing/vitrification plants would we need to build? Where would we build them? At what cost? A similar plant currently being built in the Savannah River, SC military nuclear site is also far behind schedule, way over budget, and faced with many of the same major technical problems.

If we did commercial reprocessing, spent fuel rods would have to be shipped from all over the US to “nuclear reservations” where the expensive reprocessing would occur. The spent fuel would have to be stored on site until it could be sent to the “separation “ facility which would process the fuel rods by dissolving them in acids; separate and extract the uranium, plutonium, and its byproducts; and then the repackage the “useful recyclable” material into new fuel. The left over liquid wastes would then need to be processed by a vitrification plant, and the “glass” cylinders would be stored on site awaiting final disposal. Would we have one, two, ??? of these facilities? Where would they be built, and how would all this material be transported in and out? Where would we store this highly concentrated radioactive material until a repository is built?

The cost for the Hanford plant has gone from a proposed $1 billion in the early 90’s, to over $12 billion in 2010, and the plant is now only half constructed. It is 20 years behind schedule and is expected to start in 2019, if ever. It will take about 25 years of operation to deal with the 53 million gallons of waste, and the operational costs to do so are currently projected to be between $15 billion to over $25 billion. The similar project being built at the Savannah River, SC nuclear site is experiencing similar cost overruns, delayed time schedules, and serious questions as to environmental, health, and safety issues.

Reprocessing is a huge technological , with huge uncontrollable dollar costs, huge investments in materials, huge amounts of energy requirements, and very long time frames. The bottom line is we don’t know if it will really work, or what the environmental impacts, and health and safety issues will be. Because we would be concentrating very highly radioactive materials into a small confined space (the cylinder), we haven’t figured out how space we would need to configure the thousands of cylinders in a repository with respect to the heat that they will emit for thousands of years, or how all the materials will age and react over time.

Reprocessing does not solve the nuclear waste problem; in reality, it makes it worse. True, that while we would be reducing the ultimate volume of radioactive materials that would have to be disposed, and reducing the time frame of radiological concern from 100,000 years to 10,000 years; we would also be creating a much larger waste mess…nasty liquids which can leak, more concentrated highly radioactive glass-log canisters, and the necessity to transportation these materials all over the US, that will be more difficult and expensive for our future generations to deal with.

Extending the Tax Cuts

I guess it’s politics as usual. It really doesn’t make any difference who is in the White House, or who is in control of Congress. The real power is in MONEY, so those who have it get their way. It seems the "conservatives" are classed with Republicans and are MORE out for the rich, big business, etc; while the "liberals" are Democrats more in support of the average and "lower" person...either way most of us get screwed. Since I clump myself more with the middle class...I support the Democrats. But I am VERY unhappy with OBAMA...so a lot of the criticism of him is true and justified. But I am still calling it as I see it, and to say ALL this is Obama's fault just isn't true...he has definitely screwed up HIS part of it. It is the top 1%...whatever that means...rich, politically powerful, bank execs, Wall Street moguls, big CEOs...the fat cats who are running the show, getting huge amounts of money, manipulating the economy, and not paying their fair share. That's been my beef all along, and is doesn't seem to matter who is in charge. The game has been manipulated to where we have the "best democracy money can buy," and a "news" media that doesn't really tell the news, but gives opinions of what the news is or should be. Those are the two basic realities that need to change if America is to remain a strong moral, free nation, and not succumb to communism, socialism, nazism, or whatever "ism" is out there. We need to revert back to the system where we identify the issues, elect people to deal with those issues, and openly discuss them in the political arena...namely Congress, and not MSNBC or Fox News. I fear that there will be a serious "revolution" in this country within the next four years. The Tea Partiers are right in part...they are frustrated with big government squandering their taxes; the Working Class is being outsourced and laid-off; the education system is being starved; most young folks won’t be able to afford a home; the lower class is being ignored, the majority of people are brainwashed, plugged into their Iphones facebooking their friends; the answer supposedly is for everyone to spend more of what they don't have; and the FEW “rich” suck away the dollars from the economy, stashing it where it really makes no impact on our economy….no real jobs in industry, infrastructure, basic commerce. At some point there will be a “trigger”…whether it is more recession/depression, spike in oil prices, terrorist action here, global climate change, drought….who knows, something that finally brings us together to realize the system is broken and we have the means…the wealth (dollars), the technology, the knowledge, the communication, the people to make the change. I guess that is the real American dream.

Veteran's Day

Last night, Susan and I went to Ferndale, her home town of about 1500 people, and viewed a documentary which a schoolmate of hers spent the last six months making for the Ferndale Museum. It is entitled "Letters Home" and basically tells the story of the men and women from Ferndale who went off and served their country during World War II...through the eyes, words, and stories of those few vets still alive, and the sons, daughters, and relatives of a lot of those who have since passed.

Susan is in it, telling a story of how her dad, who was 18 years olds at the time, was about to fly a bombing mission off of an island in the South Pacific. He thought that the new type of bombs they were attaching to his Corsairs were being put on backwards. Against orders, he and a few of his comrades remounted their bombs, and an hour later while flying in formation, three planes exploded in mid air. He broke radio silence, and told the others to immediately drop their bombs. They did, and survived to return to base. He faced disciplinary action; but to his dying day, he regretted the loss of those three fellow pilots. This was just one of many stories woven through this film...it was really well done and very moving, especially if you knew the people involved.

My feelings today are of compassion for not only those who were killed in action, but also for the enormous suffering which their friends and families went through, and to some degree continue to do so today. World War II was the "hell of all hell," the "war to end all wars"; but we as a civilized and informed society continue today, with our Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Millions of people are effected, sacrificing life, love...their future for the security and preservation of freedom for our country. And yet there are those who abhor a 4% increase in their tax rate.

May God bless America.

Election Day

Finally...I can hardly wait until election day is over. You would think that this should be one of the best parts of our "democracy"...being able to cast your vote...but in reality, it means little to me because it won't make any difference who/what wins...my life is at that point where whatever policy direction this country takes, I will not really be effected; and second, in this time-era, the process is absolutely absurd. Yes, we get to vote, just like the citizens in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, etc, get to vote. We are so lucky to be "free" to choose the direction we want. I remember in my younger days when I actually read the voters pamphlet, read the statements by the candidates, analyzed the initiatives, talked with others about the issues...no more....I just do what all the other Americans do...I watch FOX news, and let them tell me who/what to vote for. It's so much easier, rather than having to wade through all the TV ads...I guess if one of those is entertaining enough, I'll vote for that.
But we still get the best democracy money can buy.

"Last Tuesday, the Fox Business Network devoted five hours of programming to a California ballot initiative, Proposition 24, which would repeal corporate tax breaks. The New York Times observes that during all the coverage, which overwhelmingly attacked Prop. 24, Fox Business Network never reported on one fact: its parent company, News Corp., spent $1.3 million to defeat the proposition."


"There isn’t a single Republican leader, in Congress or among the party’s 2012 hopefuls, who has the power to disobey an order from Beck – or Rush Limbaugh, O’Reilly or Hannity. These are the Dark Ages for America." (Washington Post...part of the liberal media)


http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/01/breaking-point-infomerical/

Yes, the economy is bad, we've done things we should not have done, tried things that didn't work, made bad policy decisions...yet we are still here, and life goes on, and things will change....either for the better or the worse.

Me feelings right now go beyond all that...I return to my moral fiber of who I am, how I was raised, what I believe...whether it is the right or wrong of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, working and fighting towards a clean and sustainable environment...my biggest concern today is the decline in "American" values...to a certain degree, a similar feeling like the Tea Party...the loss of debate, discussion, compromise, argument, honesty, respect.......we are such a diverse country...how do we WORK at dealing with the issues at hand.
It's all about money and power. I guess it always has been; it's just that today's technology has changed the playing field, the players, the game, the spectators, etc...too bad.

So tomorrow night I will watch the election returns...switching from FOX to MSNBC and be entertained by the circus...proud to be an American, free to cast my vote for the future of this wonderful country.

One Week Before the Elections

With one week to go until the elections, I can hardly wait for this circus to end, or at least to simmer down for a while. As said before, it is not going to make any difference who wins...if the "liberals" retain control, anything they propose will be blocked by the other side. If the "conservatives" gain control, nothing will really change because they have no agenda...don't have a clue as to what to do, other than stop/block any process to move forward. Meanwhile, the rich will get richer and sit on their untaxed money, you and I (we're lucky ones) will just coast by on our wealth, the average middle class will continue to struggle with lower income, joblessness, default and bankruptcy, and the poor...we'll, they'll just remain poor. But maybe we will solve the crucial issues facing society today...gays getting married, serving in the military, teaching of evolution, and of course, getting rid of those silly windmills and solar panels, and "drill, baby, drill"...or the new one..."mine, baby, mine!'

This piece in the SF Chronicle pretty well sums up my feelings.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/24/IN7R1FV3LE.DTL&type=printable

Follow that up with a piece in Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/21/billionaire-politics-donors-republicans-koch-murdoch-trump-wealth_print.html

The wealthy 1% already owns the media...there is really no news reporting today...maybe one hour of "news" and 23 hours of opinion.

They already own the Supreme Court...I saw an estimate of over half a billion dollars being spent in this election cycle...donated by "who?"

They already own Congress; it really won't make any difference who is in the White House.

As said before, we will face years of being ungovernable. The rich will suck the system dry, putting very little back into infrastructure, and America will become a second world country with crumbling sewer systems, potholed freeways, collapsing bridges, polluted water, and, of course, the dire "natural" catastrophes of drought, flood, heat, cold, etc., and their impact on food, water, and energy.

But the rich will continue to have fun. Maybe Carly Fiorina will buy a third yacht for the Mediterranean...maybe even one for the Somalia coast!

THE SLOW, BUT STEADY PRICE REDUCTION IN SOLAR ENERGY

The argument that solar energy is too expensive is slowly starting to crumble. Prices of photovoltaic panels have been literally cut in half over the past two years. First Solar, one of the largest solar manufacturers recently announced it is at the 76 cent/watt benchmark. Although this is still above the 50 cent/watt deemed for years as being the magic number where solar would be universally accepted, we’re at a major crossroads, and the optimism is that the cost will continue to decline.

I’d like to try and put all this in perspective. We use electricity in units of watts…a 100 watt light bulb, a 1500 watt toaster. We pay for electricity in units of kilowatts per hour…1 kwh means we use 1000 watts for 1 hour; and our cost is anywhere from 8 cents to 15 cents depending on where we live. This retail price includes the cost of production, transmission, maintenance, administration, taxes, insurance, profit…all the expenses associated with the business of a utility serving its customers. In order to produce the electricity, a “power plant” must be constructed. What First Solar is saying, is that its “production” modules now cost $760/kw to manufacture. Add to that the other construction-related costs, and the total cost of that power plant approaches $1000/kw. If we look at other kinds of power plants, a coal-fired plant costs roughly $4000/kw; the new natural gas-fired plant PG&E built at Humboldt Bay came in at $1500/kw; and the proposed new nuclear plants are estimated at $8000…$12,000…???????????$/kw.

The cost of solar is decreasing, while the cost of conventional fueled (fossil, nuclear) electricity generation is going up. Once the power plant is built, there are O&M (operation and maintenance) costs…the cost of fuel, replacement of parts that wear out, cost of water for cooling, cost of waste (air pollutants, CO2, nuclear spent fuel) disposal. PV solar has the advantage of no fuel costs, no emissions or wastes, a minimum of moving parts to wear out, and very low labor requirements once the plant is up and running. I recall in 1989, a colleague of mine from the Engineering Department at HSU and I visited two huge (by 1989 standards) PV facilities in Southern California. We were stunned that in the middle of the sunny afternoon, while each of these 1MW plants was producing electricity for the grid, we could not find anyone to talk to because the entrance gates were locked, and there was no one around. Just the birds chirping, and the steady creak of the trackers moving the PVs every 15 seconds to face the sun. Whether we place solar in dedicated “solar farms” or mount them on our rooftops, we have a relatively inexpensive source of electricity once the initial “cost of construction” is paid for. It is estimated that placing PVs on just 3% of the roofs of US structures could displace all the coal-fired electricity generation we have today.

The cost of solar is coming down. PVs are becoming more efficient, meaning less surface area and materials needed per watt. New technologies promise new materials that can be incorporated into almost everything in our lives…our homes and commercial buildings with PV coated roofing material and glass and solid walls, automobile and truck rooftops, highway median strips, even the clothing that we wear. And all this with no moving parts, no fuel costs, no emissions…no increasing bills from our local utility. In 2009, there were 146 new solar patents granted. The solar industry is making huge inroads in the economies of not only the US, but China, Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, and South Korea.

The renewable and sustainable future is possible, yet enormous obstacles and issues remain and must be overcome. The sun does not shine all the time. The biggest challenge is storage of solar energy so it can be used whenever we need it. I will leave that discussion for another time, but we are moving forward towards our “green energy” future. Major advances in energy efficiency, smart grid technologies, and the blending of other renewable resources such as wind and biofuels will continue to progress hand in hand with solar energy. The main role for solar right now is to produce electricity when the maximum amount (peak power) is demanded by consumers. That is generally in the afternoon, on a hot summer day, when the sun is shining at its brightest. The transition has been slow, ands there will be ups and downs; but the pace is escalating as we move into the new “green” era beyond fossil fuels and nuclear.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/09/producing-solar-at-70-cents-a-watt?cmpid=rss


http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/heslin-rothenberg-farley-mesiti-p-c-7929/news/article/2010/09/solar-patents-at-record-in-2009-shine-on-solar-edition-of-cepgi?cmpid=rss


http://www.jsonline.com/business/29482814.html

THE GROWTH OF SOLAR MANUFACTURING

Aside from the costs, another argument against solar energy has been its small scale compared to a large conventional power plant. A huge nuclear plant can produce enough power for 800,000 customers, while a PV system on someone’s rooftop might just provide enough electricity for that household. Yet, given time, and put in perspective, solar energy can become and increasingly viable means of electricity generation.

A rule that still hold true for energy planners is to have available 1kw of generating capacity for every customer being served. Here in Humboldt County, we have a population of about 110,000 people, and PG&E has a power plant capable of producing 120,000kw, the excess capacity being there for increased population and future demand. Playing the numbers game, 1000 kilowatts is 1 megawatt (MW), and 1000 MW is 1 gigawatt (GW). The US electricity system is capable of generating about 600GW of power, and the world capacity is somewhere around 4,600GW. All this is supplied by thousands of generators ranging from small 1kw portables to huge 1200MW coal and nuclear units. Replacing ALL of these with solar and other renewables such as wind appears to be a daunting, if not impossible task. It will take some time, but it is definitely possible.

A recent press release by Neo Solar Power of Taiwan announced that construction is underway on what will now be the world's largest solar cell facility, a plant that will cost $837 million and produce 3.4 GW of cells per year. LDK Solar of China has a current production capacity of 2GW/year. First Solar in the US can manufacture 1.4GW/yr. These are just three of the largest manufacturers. Include Sharp and Sanyo of Japan, Siemens of Germany, the other US and Chinese, Italians, Spaniards, and South Koreans, and you approach some 35GW of production per year. The significance of this is that this production capacity is manufactured EACH YEAR, and will most obviously increase.

To put this in perspective, we are currently proposing to spend an estimated $10 billion on a new nuclear power plant in Georgia. Once completed, at whatever the final cost, that plant will generate 1000MW (1GW) of electricity when it is running. It will have a license to operate for thirty years, but its output will be a constant 1000MW each hour it runs.

Neo Solar is investing $837 million in a manufacturing facility that will produce 3,400MW (3.4GW) of solar cells every year. So, for the first year, it puts out 3,4000MW, the second year it’s combined output will be 6,800MW, the next year 10,200MW, increasing each year so that in thirty years we will have 102,000MW (102GW) of generating capacity just from that one facility. Start multiplying that by the current, but significantly increasing PV production capacity and the role of solar becomes noteworthy. The nuclear industry dreams of mass production of small modular nuclear power plants, but at what cost, and when such units might be commercially available is hugely unknown. Meanwhile, we will be producing more and more solar energy at relative low cost, no fuel costs, minimal maintenance, no emissions, and readily available at the local level throughout the world. Coupled with increased energy efficiency, all the new technologies in renewables (wind, biomass, ocean, geothermal), and better ways to locally generate, transmit, and use electricity, and within thirty years we are definitely in the new era of green and sustainable energy. Of course many obstacles exist, but our incredible technological prowess, and the fact that there is much money to be made in this area will escalate the transition.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/08/worlds-largest-solar-cell-manufacturing-plant-underway