ESB Engineer: Ireland should go Nuclear

[Pyewacket]

I afraid to disappoint you by fact that Russia holds 67% of new reactors market
At least Putin managed to save expertise and staff while US/France/Japan lost it

LOL. It's Russian money, not Russian expertise.

Clean up Chernobyl, you little gangsters.

 

[wombat]

Every engineer in the country who is not involved with building windmills knows nuclear power is needed. Every major navy has fleets of nuclear subs and the U.S have carriers so size and containment can be engineered. Canada have had nuclear stations operating in the Toronto Subaru's for 50 years without an outbreak of 2 headed Canadians. It's purely a political decision to subsidize windmills

 

[Pyewacket]

Every engineer in the country who is not involved with building windmills knows nuclear power is needed. Every major navy has fleets of nuclear subs and the U.S have carriers so size and containment can be engineered. Canada have had nuclear stations operating in the Toronto Subaru's for 50 years without an outbreak of 2 headed Canadians. It's purely a political decision to subsidize windmills

We should build one and put it in D4.

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

At the moment there is no viable option. France, in response to the oil crisis in the early to mid 70s made a strategic decision to switch to nuclear back then and they now get somewhere around 85% of their power from that network.

The saving on not buying in erratic and volatile power from oil producers and ability to match demand against capacity is obvious.

I recall doing some project back in 2007 where it was being bruited about in energy infrastructure circles that the UK would begin to have blackouts by 2017 if they didn't renew their nuclear stations. Since then we've had the farrago over Chinese companies bidding and being involved in the renewal project.

I doubt the UKs strategic energy reserves are very deep, indeed I seem to recall reading that there was a certain amount of jiggery pokery there going on with the calculations of what reserves were available.

It might be too late, I suspect, and Ireland is condemned to buying in energy from spare capacity in Europe. As oil stocks dwindle, the price goes up and we now have the existential risk of being held hostage at some point over energy purchases.

 

[Sweet Darling]

In principle it's a great idea but this is Ireland. We have an 'it'll do' attitude about most things and no history or culture of enforcement of standards and regulations.

Not good characteristics to apply to nuclear reactors.

ESB are pretty competent.

 

[Sweet Darling]

We should build one and put it in D4.

Dont be silly. Stick it on the west coast. small population and if a meltdown happens, who knows children in the area born afterward may have five fingers.

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

Could we not have nuclear power stations on the uninhabited islands off the coast.

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

The ones without a tourism trade.

 

[wombat]

The obvious location is Moneypoint or close to it so that the existing distribution can be used. Unfortunately it will never happen because politicians are more influenced by ballad singers than scientists

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

Eventually we will get all our power from the sun, I suspect, and we'll have come full circle.

 

[Baron von Biffo]

ESB are pretty competent.

But would the winning tender be based on competence or price?

 

[Dame_Enda]

Unless nuclear fusion technology can (as some have argued) resolve the health and safety risk from an accident, I will remain resolutely opposed.

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

But would the winning tender be based on competence or price?

Now the thought of an 'open and transparent' bidding process for the building of nuclear power stations in Ireland is a fairly scary thought.

We'd all be using DinnyPower I suspect before long. It would be interesting to see if someone known to have form in the corruption of such processes in the state would end up on the preferred bidders list.

Highly likely that the person concerned would appear via some corporate connection, of course.

 

[fat finger]

Nuclear shills keep telling us nuclear energy is clean energy. Clean for us, filthy toxic death dealing for generations way in the future.
(The nuclear nations have STILL not figured out a way to clean up the industry's growing toxic waste pile.)

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

True. But that isn't as big a problem as brownouts in major urban areas with all the issues that brings.

Personally I suspect we'll be launching nuclear waste into the sun at some point.

As launches become more economically viable over time and with private contractors getting, literally, into that space.

Biggest incinerator in the vicinity.

 

[middleground]

ESB are pretty competent.

They are able to charge high prices but I wouldn't trust them with nuclear waste:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/massive-oil-leaks-from-esb-cables-in-dublin-investigated-1.3915462

 

[McTell]

In theory we should build a small reactor. There's an obsession with size.

But the real prob is public procurement, as many of our pols haven't procured much more than a bag of chips.

 

[fat finger]

In theory we should build a small reactor. There's an obsession with size.

But the real prob is public procurement, as many of our pols haven't procured much more than a bag of chips.

Maybe our pols are more used to being procured.
Oops, sorry! - to accepting big donations

 

[redneck]

In the 2030's Nuclear fusion reactors will be developed. This will end the energy crisis. But until then we may have to go nuclear fission, as a back up.

 

[Lumpy Talbot]

The mere possibility of a quango set up to administer safety at Ireland's nuclear plants is more terrifying than any danger associated with nuclear accidents.

Chaired by Jackie Healy-Rae, wandering around seeing if there is somewhere he can plug his 'phone into.