Mutation
 

Boats,

The way its going the world won't have to nuke themselves the waste will take us out - a little slower and we may begin to deform here and there but its happening. Wonder how Charlie Darwin would explain it? Turns me right off seafood. Maybe the only good thing that will come out of it it the Japanese will stop killing whales.

Scamp,

we?d go looking for dumps to come floating up. And sure enough, they were RAD hot. Uck and double uck, real 007 stuff, huh. Aarrgg!!

Now this sort of thing really scares me. This whole nuclear thing needs a total overhaul - weapons, power generation - the lot. Let's use solar power, wave generators and hydo.

Jane, what about Niagara Falls do you get power from that?

Waz,
The last nuke plant I worked on was in Mahima, Japan. For all the reasons that are reasons, things were behind and it looked like the much-publicized ?grand opening? was going to be postponed. It was made absolutely clear to me that the authorities would take bolt cutters to safety instrumentation that was being used with the Reactor Coolant Pumps if it were not available for the ?big day?. So, I worked around the clock got everything just tits and that is the last nuke plant I ever worked in or ever will, period. Crazy buggers don?t seem to know or care what they are dealing with, in my opinion. From that time, I have worked a number of hydro projects, including a couple in the mountains near Sydney and find that a lot more satisfying and a big bunch safer as well. My current project is a gigantic wind generator farm being installed in the North Sea. A blade set measuring about 300 meters in diameter produces about 2 mw. Not a lot when considering that a one line Nuke plant produces 1000 mw. But all things taken into account, 500 wind generators are infinitely better than one Nuke plant.

Scamp

Wazza,
Solar power might be alright were its beautiful one day and perfect the next, But I haven't seen the sun in a week. Does it work thru overcast?

Wazza,

Drywall does have a point. Many areas around don't have enough sunlight or wind to the job. But I agree we do need an alternate power supply other than oil.

Nukes are here for awhile yet. Getting rid of the waste is the problem.

Water shortages will be our next big problem. Clean uncontaminated water is a big concern. Desalination cost haven't come down expect for the Saudi's who have the oil money to make clean water.

We are working on several systems for cleaning up nuclear waste and for solar power. We've been in testing for over years and we are close to nailing down some big jobs.

Let's hope the more terrible scenario's don't occur and that we don't have too many more nuclear accidents. Air pollution is something we need to address cause once you poison the air your ticket has been cancelled.

We are doomed if we don't change our technologies to something more compatible with our human needs.

Remember the movie Solent Green it was just on TV not long ago and that scenario is a bit reaching but who knows what 200 years from now this old world will be like?

I'm beginning to sound like a fatalist! If the cards keep playing the way they're going it may not be that fantastic.

Hey guys and Jane,
I know I'd like to live in a perfect world and that's not possible; but to me generating the power and transporting it isn't that difficult. I know there is a voltage drop over great distances but what the heck. I mean continental USA has plenty of hot desert were solar power could be generated and coupled with desaliation plants. And in Oz it's the same deal. Japan surely has thermal opportunities. I guess Alaska may be different but in those higher lattitudes don't the have huge tides. I know a place in Oz & Scamp has probably been there where the ocean is forced though a narrow causway on the incoming tide out on the ebb. Ideal place for water turbine. But.... money.

Drywall
I've got solar panels on my roof for generating hot water. But I know the electicity one's are too expensive at the moment to be cost effective. The government or power company wont subsidise us enough to use them notwithstanding they put power back into the grid. I know the freezing winters are a problem. I've always wonder how you keep running water to your homes. Doesn't the pipes freeze up.

Bloddy hell I'm getting cold just talking about it. Where's the bearskin

Wazza,
I live right in the lap of Niagara Falls, supplying power to most of the US Eastern Seaboard. I think the electricity here costs more than anywhere else that we supply.
Pipes freezing: Lake Erie doesn't freeze. That's why we have to deal with so much "Lake Effect" snow. The only people who have problems with pipes freezing and possibly bursting are those who have no heat. You have to keep your house at a certain temp. to prevent this from happening.
If you want to use the bearskin with no heat, your pipes will freeze. And I'd hate to see what crawled out of that at the end of winter with no shower!

Winter in Buffalo