9/03/2012
Safe to go nuclear
There was a CNA programme last night on how safe to go nuclear in Southeast Asia. After an hour, the panel over came initial reservations and seemed quite agreeable to the idea that nuclear power is safe and necessary. Fossil fuel will just run out and countries wanting growth and growth and growth just have to rely on nuclear. All the concerns about radioactive fallouts were summarily dismissed. No 911 on any power plant is possible. You would need a nuclear bomb to blow up a nuclear power plant to really cause damage and widespread radiation.
In the Three Mile Island no one died. In Chernobyl, just about a hundred. In Fukushima no one died too, or maybe a handful. Nuclear power stations are safe. There are more people being killed on the road than by a nuclear accident.
The Chairman did try diplomatically to raise the concerns of expertise and discipline of the people manning the plant and also the inconsistency of governance with regular regime changes and change of leadership personalities. These were discussed but should not be an issue. The system of operating a nuclear power plant is so carefully and meticulously designed to take care of everything. Nothing will be allowed to go wrong.
Our SMRT was running perfectly for at least 20 years under the best governance and best trained personnel with all the safety and maintenance procedures observed. We know the story. Equipment ages, people slack, management oversight, over confidence and getting into a routine, could all contribute in their small little ways to build into a crisis.
All it needs is a confluence of little events. A poor quality cable, a technician having a bad day, a computer or system glitch, management having a hangover after a party, no one is assumed to be able to break into a highly secured installation.
When things want to go wrong, it will go wrong according to Murphy. Don’t believe in Murphy. Can a senior technician in the plant be converted by a cause, bought over or blackmailed? I think all eventualities have been thought through and taken care of. Even if Nature wants to take a pee or a fart would have gone into the equation to build a 100% safe plant.
The no choice option is the main thrust for nations going nuclear. They need the growth, and the power, not today, maybe tomorrow. The world’s population must grow for growth’s sake. It is 6 billion today and could go to 10 billion or 20 billion, for whatever reason, I dunno. But grow it must, for economic growth and prosperity. And consumption of all things, resources and energy must go on and on and on. Why there is a need to keep changing mobile phones and add new little games is a complex issue. Once whatever is consumed, next frontier, Mars.
Human beings will just grow and consume for the sake of growing and growing. There is no other option but to grow. And nuclear is the next alternative to support the growth that is needed, for what?
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28 comments:
If nuclear plants & policy is discussed on CNA, I would translate this to mean that the Pro Alien Party government has decided to use nuclear power.
There is only one way to stop this.
Vote Opposition in GE 2016.
A vote for the Pro Alien Party is a vote for a radioactive future for our children.
Russia had the Chernobyl nuclear accident (1986).
USA had the Three Mile Island nuclear accident (1979).
Japan had the Fukushima nuclear accident (2011).
But of course.
The arseholes-in-white can do better than all the scientists in three of the most advanced countries in the world.
The vet, admiral and emperor's son know better than all the scientists combined.
The Fukushima Nuclear accident (2011) is just the latest and worst accident in a series of accidents and safety issues dating back to 1967.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster
There have been a total of 23
Nuclear power plant accidents and incidents;
with multiple fatalities and/or more than US$100 million in property damage, between 1952-2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents
We will soon have a Fuckushima Nuclear accident
Let's build first. You want growth or not? Leave the problem to the future. Sinkieland may well end up as a nuclear wasteland. Not the problem for our generation.
Come on,
open up yr minds. Singapore can buy Bintan or a big peace of land in Kalimantan to build nuclear plants. In exchange Singapore can supply Indonesia with certain amount of power supply annually say for fifty years. Win win situation for both countries.
Good idea if they buy it. We are not in the earthquake zone and neither are we in countries that would be threatened by terrorists.
Very safe environment for nuclear plants.
Relac lah.
Radiation causes genetic mutation -- sometimes you get cancer, sometimes you get unpredictable results.
Gamma radiation is particularly powerful -- it could kill you or turn you into The Hulk.
Take a chance lah. Where is your sense of adventure?
Got boron shielding?
Yes, nuclear power can be relatively safe. Singapore can opt for Thorium-based reactors instead of uranium reactors. Countries like the cold war adversaries and Japan opted for uranium-based power because its by-products can be used for nuclear weapons.
OTOH, thorium is 4 times more abundant in nature, and produce up to 10,000 times less long-lived radioactive waste. More importantly, China has lots of thorium.
We will have the most unique and diversified range of people type. Exceptional sportsmen with hands and legs twice longer than others, talents, artistes, exceptional skills and looks, some with two heads and 4 hands.
"OTOH, thorium is 4 times more abundant in nature, and produce up to 10,000 times less long-lived radioactive waste. More importantly, China has lots of thorium."
ANON: September 03, 2012 10:34 AM
Yes.
Every other developed country is stupid.
Only Singapore Leeders are clever.
We will build the world's first Thorium reactor.
And who told you thorium reactors are safe?
The same countries like America and Japan with the nuclear accidents.
And who is going to train our nuclear engineers.
The same countries like America and Japan with the nuclear accidents.
You are not just a deaf frog.
You are daft as well.
"More importantly, China has lots of thorium."
ANON: September 03, 2012 10:34 AM
China your grandfather's country is it?
China owe you a living?
Build your thorium reactor.
And we end up with only ONE supplier of thorium.
China.
And China will not bully Singapore to take in more PRC immigrants?
Or sell us Thorium at 'subsidized" prices?
The same way HDB sells flats at "subsidized" prices.
You must have shit for brains.
The day they are able to make nuclear power plant safe, every country will go nuclear. Unfortunately they could not do away with radiation. In other 50 or 100 years, when the current batch of nuclear plants are expiring and to be buried for good or to rot and exposed their deadly remains to the world, it will become a major environmental crisis.
We are delaying the problem for future generations. The active life of uranium or thorium radiation are in millions of years.
Accidents are waiting to happen. Mankind deserves what they have created. playing with death. This is not just a big explosion or a big building collapse and life goes on. Once it happens, lingers on for thousands of years and could spread and spread.
"Singapore can buy Bintan or a big peace of land in Kalimantan to build nuclear plants."
ANON: September 03, 2012 10:00 AM
Indonesia don't even want to sell us sand.
There is a selling ban on sand to Singapore.
And you think they will sell us an island?
Indonesians not that stupid.
Only Singapore Leeders stupid enough to sell an island (Christmas Island) to a foreign government.
Think about how much bigger our national boundaries will be if we still had Christmas Island.
Typical MIW.
With shit for brains.
"open up yr minds. Singapore can buy Bintan or a big peace of land in Kalimantan to build nuclear plants. In exchange Singapore can supply Indonesia with certain amount of power supply annually say for fifty years."
ANON: September 03, 2012 10:00 AM
Indonesians will likely build the nuclear plants with USA or European technologies.
And work with the western governments to sell electricity to Singapore.
Our Leeders can't even manage a 50 year water supply agreement with Malaysia.
You think they can manage an electricity supply agreement involving nuclear power with Indonesia?
More "shit for brains" ideas.
From an MIW.
WTF, its the same as 10 to 15 years back when they came up with a target 6.5 million people, look at the mess we are in at just 5.2 million???
Now the nuclear power, so we will expect another fatal mess 10 to 15 years down the road, radioactive is radioactive, and there is no way to run???
Why these "WISE' MIW dun bother to think about the people??? there are so many other alternative energy source, why must choose nuclear when we know the consequences???
We are blessed with lots of sunshine, lots of water around us, we have lots of rain fall also, water and sunshine gives us food for the body, gives us oxygen to breath, gives us hydrogen as fuel, and pure drinking water... please consider a hydrogen economy, not nuclear.
Why our top talents cannot create a new industry out of it, must go copy from others???
Quote:
Some benefits of thorium fuel when compared with uranium were summarized as follows:
Weapons-grade fissionable material (233U) is harder to retrieve safely and clandestinely from a thorium reactor;
Thorium produces 10 to 10,000 times less long-lived radioactive waste;
The fissionable thorium cycle uses 100% of the isotope as coming out of the ground, which does not require enrichment, whereas the fissile uranium cycle depends on only the 0.7% fissile U-235 of the natural uranium. The same cycle could also use the fissionable U-238 component of the natural uranium, and also contained in the depleted reactor fuel;
Thorium cannot sustain a nuclear chain reaction without priming so fission stops by default in an accelerator driven reactor.
The last point is key - runaway chain reaction cannot happen in an accident.
/// Anonymous said...
You must have shit for brains.
September 03, 2012 10:45 AM ///
That was a nice monologue - no wonder shit is coming out of your mouth.
"Weapons-grade fissionable material (233U) is harder to retrieve safely and clandestinely from a thorium reactor"
Gullible Sucker @ September 03, 2012 11:22 AM
And who told you this fairy tale?
By the way, who are the people in the panel.
Are they Singaporeans and if not, how come they can talked about it in singapore.
Wondering where is the hope leow.
I think all foreigners except the chairperson. One from LKY School, one from NUS, one who was at Fukushima during the disaster probably in nuclear power industry, and a prof.
Once the first "successful" (i.e. commercially viable, reliable and safe) thorium reactor gets going, the investment bucks will pour in for development.
Until then, there is still long road ahead. There are political forces and vested interests in the continued use of uranium.
Whats more, the legislative framework, SOPs, universal accepted practices of thorium reactor operation have not yet been fully established. Governments are SLOOWWWW...as they are run by professional politicians who are more interested in personal aggrandizement than actually doing useful work which THE ENTIRE SOCIETY will benefit from.
Whilst energy and politics have always been entangled, the game nowadays is played with increased stakes and with more vigour.
In other words, it is shit. Meanwhile, we, the people continue to pay more and more for energy, and energy-intensive products like food and water.
Motherfuckers.
"India plans to secure 30% of its electricity from thorium-based reactors by 2050.
The country is a global leader in thorium-based fuel and possesses 25% of the world’s thorium reserves."
http://asian-power.com/power-utility/in-focus/india-build-more-thorium-nuclear-reactors
Former Foreign Millionaire George Yeo has very close ties with India.
Maybe we can resurrect him.
And build a thorium nuclear reactor here in Singapore.
Using Indian technology, Indian engineers and Indian FTs.
And Indian professors can train our university students in thorium technology.
For you ignorant dafties.
Here is some info. about thorium.
http://www.thoriumsingapore.com/content/
I wonder who is paying for the running of this website "thorium singapore" ?
Anybody has any more doubts?
Nuclear power is coming to Singapore.
Will there be a debate over this?
Sure.
Did we not debate about the casinos too?
Like the casinos.
Maybe better prepare for TWO nuclear power plants instead of one.
When they believe that only population growth can give everyone a good life, the need for more power in ever growing amount is a must. So population growth = economic growth = nuclear power. You want one you must have the other two.
The decision has been more or less made unless population growth is cut down to size. It is a no option option.
Read the thorium site and it said no catastrophic meltdown or explosion and radiation was played down to near zero. How real are these assumptions?
Would 5m Sinkies willing to sleep on top of a nuclear power plant and think it is safe enough?
These days we are being encouraged to go beyond two. Make it 3 or 4, and if you can afford it, 5 even.
Of course thorium reactors are safe.
There are no active, commercial thorium reactors in the world to blow up yet.
The National Debate on nuclear reactors will happen the same way as the debate on increasing Singapore's population.
The debate will happen after the nuclear reactor has been built.
How do you know a nuclear reactor is not right now under construction some where in Singapore?
Haha......
Folka are committing suicides at Bedok Reservoir and here folks are talking about nuclear mishap. By the time the nuclear caused any damage, many Singaporeans would have ended their own live.
Just vote in more opposition MPs.
They will help us keep an eye on the Pro Alien Party.
And ask questions in parliament.
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