Nuclear Free

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Nuclear Power Myths

Nuclear Power Myths

Time to challenge the myths about nuclear power perpetrated by the nuclear industry.

Myth 1:- If you fly in an airliner you will be exposed to more radiation than standing near Fukushima etc.

Mythbuster:- Solar radiation is different in type, duration and effect on living tissue to Uranium and its isotopes.
The same same is true of radon from granite and other naturally occurring radiations from rock that people live normally with.
The nuclear industry knows this and it is a deliberately dishonest comparison to fool the unwary.

myth 2:- Only nuclear can provide the continuous baseload needed because renewables are too intermittent.

Mythbuster:- Nuclear reactors spend on average more than 30% of their designated working life (DWL) offline, mostly because of safety problems. This is more than even wind or solar and in larger chunks at a time. The only way nuclear can provide continuous baseload is by having a number of reactors, at different locations for safety. Renewables, with a variety of technologies and locations is potentially able to better nuclear for continuous baseload provision.

http://easss.com/nuclear/myths

Can renewables provide baseload power?
http://www.skepticalscience.com/renewable-energy-baseload-power.htm

The Myth of Intermittent Renewable Electricity
http://ogremk5.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/the-myth-of-intermittent-renewable-electricity/

Renewable energy can provide baseload power – here’s how
http://theconversation.edu.au/renewable-energy-can-provide-baseload-power-heres-how-2221

The Base Load Fallacy
and other Fallacies disseminated by Renewable Energy Deniers
Dr Mark Diesendorf
Energy Science Coalition
http://www.energyscience.org.au/BP16%20BaseLoad.pdf
http://www.energyscience.org.au/

Myth 3:- Nuclear power is the solution for CO2 climate change.

Mythbuster :_The rate of building of nuclear reactors is too slow to have a significant impact on climate change, it cannot be speeded up because of shortages of Uranium, cement and reactor vessels and other hardware and expertise.

Nuclear advances are moving slower than other renewable advances, by 2030 current planned nuclear technology will be obsolete.

Nuclear build has serious CO2 implications of it's own.

Nuclear and renewables are incompatible on the same grid. Nuclear baseload with renewables kicking in at high demand is ludicrous. Renewable baseload will need quick build flexible sources to kick in on high demand. Nuclear cannot do this.

Nuclear is draining money from renewable research.

To take over and deliver the electricity anticipated by 2050, there will need to be over 100,000 reactors globally. If they all operate at only 50% of current leaks, discharges and accidents, it would take less than 1 year from switch on to make the planet an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland.