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Re: [Phys-l] Nuclear Power and the Grid


On 2011, Sep 10, , at 10:29, John Denker wrote:

The countryside for miles around will
become uninhabitable for thousands of years. We know this
because the experiment has been done.


According to Muller the dose for most of the nearby region (Chernobyl '86 IV) has dropped to ~ one rem / year, so, if repopulated in 50 years the excess cancer would be somewhat less than 2%. [background cancer rate is thought to be ~ 20%] Somewhat less, because the source is continuing to decay, tho not at the initial rate.
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"It could take “more than 20 years before residents could safely return to areas with current radiation readings of 200 millisieverts per year, and a decade for areas at 100 millisieverts per year”.[275]"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster#Radiation_releases
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Life would be easy if you had a 1000 MW dummy load, and a magic
switch that could transfer just the right amount of power from
the dummy load to the real load, but you don't have either of
those things.

Pumped hydro is an excellent match for nuclear and for dirty brown coal fired power stations (because they run at full power all the time and produce very cheap power). Consider the 2007 NEM demand: Peak = 33GW, average = 25GW, base-load = 18GW. Option 1 - nuclear only. 33 GW @ $4b/GW = $132b. Option 2 - nuclear + pumped hydro. 25 GW nuclear @ $4b/GW = $100b + 8GW pumped hydro for $15b = $115b. Conclusion: Option 2 (nuclear + pumped hydro) is the lower cost option.


http://bravenewclimate.com/2010/04/05/pumped-hydro-system-cost/


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bc prays JD meant thousands of days.