An American Chernobyl

The answer is,, effectively none! Witness the people who are still ranting "drill, baby, drill". (If you don't believe that, just read the comments section on many news stories at places like Politico.com)

Witness the number of people (including the president!) who, in spite of Chernobyl, TMI, and with no reasonable way of dealing (safely) with long term wast, still advocate nuke power!

People want cheap stuff, cheap energy, and they want to be able drive where they want, when they want and in any vehicle they want. Too soon this will become page three, then page thirty, then except for a relatively few that will continue to be impacted, we will lament the price of gas, and will support all the risky ventures we can,, to keep the shit cheap!

 

I agree. While there will always be a small minority willing to do the "right" thing, as a society we will not change until we are forced to financially. This is why economic considerations take precedence over environmental concerns and why we can't leave such decisions strictly to free enterprise. There has to be financial accountability and it has to be enforced by our society (aka government).

 

I don't know, I'm as upset as anyone about the ecological disaster that this oil spill has become.

I also champion efficiency. Ecological responsibilty and stewardship. But Damn if I'm going to feel guilty or blame myself for the oil spill.

Yes, I live in a huge country and world power, who's economy and culture is based on a fossil fuel supported infrastructure. Yes, I take advantage of tools, foods, and fuels that all rely on this reality. I can make personal choices...big car, small car,-Hybrid-Electric, Bicycle, walk, recycle,...whatever...I think that's all good.

But ultimately this spill was about greed. You don't drill a mile down out in the ocean unless you think there is profit in it. It was greed that wouldn't of directly benefited me, so it wasn't my greed. Sure maybe someday I would of filled my tank with some of the refined byproduct of the oil that is now contaminating the ocean...but that reality is based on things out of my control.

We are moving towards less oil dependency (eventually- whether we like it or not). Hybrids, solar panels, wind farms, change is coming, but there is something dsyfunctional in looking at this disaster caused by the failure of an oil rig...and saying...it's my fault..

No...I'm not perfect and I'm not living off the grid. But I don't think my culpability in this matter extends beyond the fact that I happen to live in a large, powerful country, that happens to use fossil fuels.

Yes, I'm blaming BP. They stood to profit if the Oil was ever recovered, they initiated the creation of the well, they are the ones that evidently had no real plan in place to deal with the disaster as it has unfolded.

Would I like it if we all looked at this disaster and grabbed hands and came out singing Kumbaya and everyone unplugged and went out and bought a Prius...sure..but it's not that simple. I want change, I believe in change. But when it comes to the specifics of an massive oil leak at the bottom of the ocean, caused by the failure of an oil rig and the lack of plans by the company that put that hole in the ocean floor to start with...YES, I'm primarily blaming BP.

Maybe I use more fossil fuel resources than I should, but BP didn't drill that well for me, they drilled it for themselves and profit.

BP needs to fix it. In the meantime the more foresighted of us can continue to try and change the world. Unfortunately in the short term it's more likely BP succeeds and we fail.

I can wish it wasn't the reality but outside of recent Prius Commercials harmony does not exist between man, nature and machines...

 

I am not absolving BP of responsibility, merely pointing out that a generation from now, this will in all likelyhood be footnote of history. We didn't change much behavior after TMI, we didn't change much after Exxon Valdiz, we didn't even change after the oil embargo of 1973!

The only change (in behavior) will be if for some reason we raise a carbon tax and the price of all energy goes up a bit faster that it otherwise will, we will howl, howl drill baby drill once again!

I have little faith that folks will do right thing just because it is the obvious right thing. (present company included!) As for blame, thereis plenty to go around. The long and short of it is, if we use fossil fuel we all carry some of the blame!

 

I did my part, I did not eat a doughnut today even though it is national doughnut day.

 

Your like a Malcom X rising up against the opression of Crispy Kreme....

You know all varieties count including maple bars?

 

Awhh man.

 

You'd need a nuke engineer to describe the light years difference betweeen U.S. & Russian redundant safety systems in their reactor cooling systems. Russians were notorious for taking crazy short cuts. Anyone remember the time bomb style torpedoes they'd use in their subs? The older they got, the more likely they simply detonate. I give you the leading end of what's left of the Kursk:



.

 

soviet submarine reactors were run at settings considered quiet dangerous in the west, if I recall. Also, chernobyl's moderator was graphite, a terrible design because of the positive feedback loops that lead to its destruction. Western designs are much, much better. No perfect, but a lot safer.

 

Well I for one am going to drive my Prius in +80F weather for the next six months and get between 50-60 MPG. Will that do?

Bob Wilson

 

actually a solar reflector altered by a tornado or other similar weather event that beams a light into space blinding a passing alien who then vaporizes the Earth in a fit of "space rage"

started that process on Thanksgiving Weekend 2003 when i ordered my first Prius. baby step, yea... another step taken the week before Thanksgiving, 2007 when i took delivery of my Zenn which is my primary commuter. and hope to take another step when i get my Leaf in December which will then become the primary family vehicle and commuter

 

Wow, I've never heard of liquid cooling nukes. It made me do a bit of Googleing. It might be noted that the Russian government may not be the greatest source to determine how successful the cooling is ... just a thought. They're notorious for accident cover ups. It was creepy to think that in liquid metal cooling, the metal was often lead or mercury (immediately my mind went to, 'what if it leaks?' thoughts) ... as well as varieties of sodium ... isn't sodium extremely reactive when exposed to the atmosphere?

I don't know from shinola ... but this was a creepy read about the Liquid metal cooled Russian K-27, commissioned back in the 1960's:

I read a bit that the North Koreans have played with this kind of technology too. Hopefully ... they've got the technology more dialed in than the above example.

Seems the D.O.E. keeps score, too. Maybe not metal cooled. Who knows. But in short, from the Adobe attachment below:

Man ... I'm walkin' on sunshine now. No - you'd never know it, after digging up those reads, but I'm actually i'm in favor of nuke power for electricity ... and I know that coal disasters outweigh nuke damage by light years. Gotta so something.

.

 

Didn't the Alfa class boats use a sodium-bismuth cooled reactor? The Alfa was a revolutionary boat in some ways. It could dive deeper than NATO torpedos of the day, thanks to it's all titanium hull. Of course, it sounds like the Soviets never really perfected the art of working with titanium at those scales (even though the alfa was a small boat). It was pretty noisy, but could break 40kts. I love the lines of the soviet attack boats, but there's no way in hell I'd voluntarily serve on one, given what we know about the quality of the engineering and the lack of concern for the crew (a common theme, soviet tanks were nasty beasts as well).

 

About the titanium alfa:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_class_submarine"]Alfa class submarine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/row/rus/705.htm

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-.../vol52no3/unravelling-a-cold-war-mystery.html

I always thought the Typhoon class subs were awesome as a kid: [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_class_submarine"]Typhoon class submarine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
..but then maybe I read The Hunt For Red October a few too many times.