Gillette WY to build nuclear power plants

[rjthehunter]

IBTL!

Seems like WY is a perfect place for a nuclear power plant!

 

[Hnthrdr]

Chernobyl happened because communism is wack and the Soviets were lazy yes-men. That’s not a fair example.

All the examples given were from plants that are 50/60 years old, would be akin to saying 50/60 year old computers or surgeries suck! Modern nuclear power is a little different

 

[mfrosty6]

You should watch the Chernobyl miniseries on HBO. It was excellent. It wasn't that their safety systems failed necessarily, it was a series of mistakes in their test that pushed the system to its brink and undermined all the safety mechanisms in place, and exposed a serious design flaw that they concealed from the people in charge of operating it.

Anyway...all told, nuclear power is one of the safest and most efficient means of producing energy. I hope we get more of it (as long as we figure out how to handle the waste properly).

As for Fukushima...I don't think Gillette, WY is in danger of a tsunami anytime soon.

I heard a rumor about interest of building a nuclear power plant here I Butte MT. idk the accuracy of that rumor, but to my surprise I have heard positive things about them.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

The hang up is the difficulty of getting highly enriched uranium. Most of the stuff is made in Russia.

 

[4ohSick]

The problem with nuclear power plants is that they are safe until they're not. Afterwards the area around them is unsafe for hundreds if not thousands of years. Then there's the problem of what to do with the spent fuel rods.
And don't think what happened at Chernobyl can't happen here. Much like the Three Mile Island.

Actually read about 3 Mile Island. The worst nuclear disaster on US soil killed zero people and exposed the population in the surrounding area to radiation levels equivalent to a chest x-ray. If we've learned anything since then, I'd expect additional safety measures and redundancy so future "disasters" would be even more mundane. We should replace Colstrip with nuclear.

 

[atlas]

I'll take nuclear over endless miles of wind farms and solar tbh.

 

[atlas]

Also, large scale dam removals will never be a reality without out nuclear power.

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[TheDudeAbides]

What is nuclear waste and what do we do with it? - World Nuclear Association

The small amount of waste produced by nuclear reactors has been managed responsibly since the dawn of civil nuclear power. There are several management strategies available, such as direct disposal or recycling in reactors to generate more low-carbon electricity.

world-nuclear.org

Recycling? Interesting. Buried waste is a dealbreaker IMO. Waiting for the miracle of fusion energy production.

Why.

Especially if you place it below the water table.

Let it sit in a cavern in a steel drum for eternity.

Nuclear waste buried underground is not that big of a deal.

Water, Lead, Steel, Concrete, etc are all used to shield radiation.

1000's of feet of dirt is more than enough to block radioactive isotopes.

If you are worried about it radiating in the water supply, then I have some bad news for you.

Many imported food products are irradiated and there are many foods that contain radioactive isotopes.

Bananas, Beer, Gatorade, etc

Like, it is not a huge issue to have drums of this stuff in abandoned underground mines and then seal off the entries as they get full.

It can be there for eternity causing no harm to any plants, humans, or animals.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

The problem with nuclear power plants is that they are safe until they're not. Afterwards the area around them is unsafe for hundreds if not thousands of years. Then there's the problem of what to do with the spent fuel rods.
And don't think what happened at Chernobyl can't happen here. Much like the Three Mile Island.

I mean you could say the same with all types of plants or factories.

What happens when a gas refinery catches on fire and blows up.

Kuwait's oil fields was supposed to cause nuclear winter and didn't.

Caused a lot of damaged, but we adapted and overcame.

Nuclear power plants are incredibly safe now a days, the issue is we stopped building them in mass.

In favor of cheap natural gas or wind and solar (That only work in certain geographies or weather)

 

[TheDudeAbides]

The hang up is the difficulty of getting highly enriched uranium. Most of the stuff is made in Russia.

Wyoming has the largest deposits in the US.

Just need the refineries to be approved by the EPA, but I think due to the fear of nuclear they would rather put that on a 3rd world country.

Uranium mining in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Wyoming has the largest deposits in the US.

Just need the refineries to be approved by the EPA, but I think due to the fear of nuclear they would rather put that on a 3rd world country.

Uranium mining in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes we have uranium. Producing the enriched stuff is another story.

 

[elkduds]

Why.

Especially if you place it below the water table.

Let it sit in a cavern in a steel drum for eternity.

Nuclear waste buried underground is not that big of a deal.

Water, Lead, Steel, Concrete, etc are all used to shield radiation.

1000's of feet of dirt is more than enough to block radioactive isotopes.

If you are worried about it radiating in the water supply, then I have some bad news for you.

Many imported food products are irradiated and there are many foods that contain radioactive isotopes.

Bananas, Beer, Gatorade, etc

Like, it is not a huge issue to have drums of this stuff in abandoned underground mines and then seal off the entries as they get full.

It can be there for eternity causing no harm to any plants, humans, or animals.

Not convinced, dude.

As nuclear waste piles up, scientists seek the best long-term storage solutions

cen.acs.org

 

[4ohSick]

Not convinced, dude.

As nuclear waste piles up, scientists seek the best long-term storage solutions

cen.acs.org

Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The storage standards for Yucca mountain show how it's just about impossible to meet an acceptable storage standard. The court ruled the EPA's compliance standard of 10,000 years was too short, and that they needed to comply to NAS recommendations for standards to meet peak risk which might approach one million years. If they somehow get a permit to store underground, it won't be a concern for such a long time that I'd go way under on the odds of humanity making it long enough to care.

 

[Djfan]

This is going to be a big trade - we give Wyoming the nuke plants, but you have to shut down the coal mines.

No thanks.

If I remember correctly, Bill Gates is behind this. If so, double no thanks.

 

[Caseknife]

The Terrapower plant that is going in at Kemmerer is projected to provide 345 MW of power and is sodium cooled. TerraPower is the company owned by Gates. The proposed manufacturing of the nuc plants in Gillette is not a Gates deal.

 

[307]

Coal is in the death spiral regardless of the nuclear reactor construction business. The state of Wyoming has to be looking beyond coal in order to plot a responsible path for its citizens in the future.

I hope this goes really well, though it will not be up and running any time soon.

 

[Doublecluck]

Worst case scenario there will be some rad non typical genes in the future.

 

[buckbull]

Advancing nuclear technologies in the united states is a necessity. China is opening 5-10 nuclear plants a year, soon to produce more nuclear power than the united states. Its only a matter of time when we need power from something other than coal or natural gas.

 

[brymoore]

Worst case scenario there will be some rad non typical genes in the future.

25” pronghorns!