#neclear

Sim Chi Yin, 

The exhaust and air intake stacks for the underground power plant at the Stanley R. Mickelson Site. USA. 2017. 

Russia goes Ballistic !

In response to the purported downing of a Russian civilian airliner in the Sinai in Egypt, the Kremlin is now poised for a nuclear strike on sites controlled by the Islamic State. Citing its right to protect its people and interests in Russia and abroad, Intelligence officials have anonymously reported that Russia is moving its tactical nuclear units closer to its international boundaries and its…

After watching a catch up of news yesterday I found out that the UK Government is today planning to signal the go-ahead for add another nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

To be honest I'd forgotten about Hinkley Point, it's always been in Somerset but not over close to the land locked middle where I grew up. I have known about the existence of the power plant for as long as I can remember but didn't comprehend the harmful waste it produces when I was younger.

I understand that this reactor will help boost the economy, create many jobs and provide 'much needed' energy but I can't fully comprehend why we are still using nuclear energy as it is not a sustainable and or (infamously) stable. There are other means to harness energy, in school we learnt more about them than we did about coal/gas/nuclear energy. What's the point in being set a curriculum by the government if they do not seemingly justify what we are taught? I can tell you, over five years later pros and cons of solar/wind/tidal energy but only cons of the non-renewable ways of generating energy. I did read an article mentioning that some stuff about climate change was being taken out of schools so maybe in a few years I'll stand corrected.

When I left school in 2007 I was given the 'global awareness award' I didn't think much of it then, it was a nice certificate and a photo in the western gazette. Now I think about it I got it, not only for my work with Global Youth Action and the UK Youth Parliament but, for being a potentially precocious so-and-so vocally disagreeing with stuff like nuclear power. Asking questions my teachers didn't have time to answer. 

I'm could be all 'not in my back yard' (NIMBY) about Hinkley C, I could bang on about how picturesque that slice of Somerset is with in the shadow of the Quantock Hills, on the bank of the river Severn, surrounded by graceful farmland, interspersed with quaint villages and how building another reactor further threatens our county.

A recently released report from a group of venture capital investors attempts to give a clear picture of the playing field for federal support when it comes to different sources of energy. The report, “What Would Jefferson Do,” from DBL Investors, is among the first and best attempts to make an “apples to apples” comparison of federal incentives for fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable sources of energy. The fact that oil and gas have received more than 75 times the total cumulative dollar amount of federal subsidies that renewables have may not be terribly surprising ($446.96 billion vs. $5.93 billion, see below). Oil was first commercially produced in Titusville, PA in 1859, giving it more than a century head start on renewable sources of energy.

Stuxnet