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Hinkley Point C
Oct. 11th, 2010 10:42 pmSo, the Plans are Afoot to build a new reactor at Hinkley Point. Reactor C would be an EPR, a new design which is, apparently, "an evolution of the PWR" and there's tons of bumf at the wiki. The Finnish and French early adopters are having problems: some of these are to do with safety-control systems (which I'd say are non-negotiable!) and some to do with workmanship (is this a "big project tendering for the lowest bidder" problem, because it seems common?). Would a Westinghouse AP-1000 be any better?
I'm of the reluctant opinion that nuclear power is a necessary stopgap in our decarbonisation of energy; it's just a scale thing, really, and very much a lesser evil: I want to see the inherently-safe Generation IV designs in play until the Energy Revolution is completed (and we all have fleets of replicating windmills and space solar and fusion anna Gwendoline), and then mothballed with a "thank feck that's over," like some sort of horrid mecha we no longer need (too much Evangelion before bed) but the evolution of this kit isn't like versions of mobile phone OS. It takes time, and a gigawatt or two of nuke power is a gigawatt or two that can be not-coal power. Fundamentally I want to see the death of Drax and something clean to feed these leccy cars. Scale, see.
Given that opinion, what do the great and good think? Is Hinkley C a smart step -- safer cleaner and all that -- or just another dangerous boondoggle in a chain of boondoggles? Would a Westinghouse AP-1000 be any better?
Do I need to get a badger suit? ;)
(posts about technical sciencey stuff are fly-paper for the Dunning-Kruger effect: citations always needed)
I'm of the reluctant opinion that nuclear power is a necessary stopgap in our decarbonisation of energy; it's just a scale thing, really, and very much a lesser evil: I want to see the inherently-safe Generation IV designs in play until the Energy Revolution is completed (and we all have fleets of replicating windmills and space solar and fusion anna Gwendoline), and then mothballed with a "thank feck that's over," like some sort of horrid mecha we no longer need (too much Evangelion before bed) but the evolution of this kit isn't like versions of mobile phone OS. It takes time, and a gigawatt or two of nuke power is a gigawatt or two that can be not-coal power. Fundamentally I want to see the death of Drax and something clean to feed these leccy cars. Scale, see.
Given that opinion, what do the great and good think? Is Hinkley C a smart step -- safer cleaner and all that -- or just another dangerous boondoggle in a chain of boondoggles? Would a Westinghouse AP-1000 be any better?
Do I need to get a badger suit? ;)
(posts about technical sciencey stuff are fly-paper for the Dunning-Kruger effect: citations always needed)
