Brazil to build 60 new nuclear plants; America left behind
Yes, it’s true. Brazil is on the road to energy independence:
Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao announced Friday Brazil plans to build 50 to 60 nuclear power plants in half a century, with each having capacity of 1,000 megawatts.
“The general idea is to build one plant per year,” he said during a visit to the construction site of Brazil’s third nuclear power plant, Angra 3.
The US needs to take the hint: nuclear is the future. Consider this article from the New York Times:
In France, however, it [nuclear energy] is a national cause. The political left and right are united. Extraneous matters do not intrude. In a recent newspaper interview, the head of the French nuclear monopoly, Rene Carle, said that ”any three people can get together to stop a nuclear plant” in the United States. France is different. ”There is a unique national consensus here,” Mr. Delaney reports. ”The French believe their survival depends on nuclear power. That’s why in France it works.”
Presumably, this is true. Coal mines in France are exhausted. The country is dependent on OPEC for oil. ”Only in France,” Mr. Delaney reports, ”did Chernobyl fail to ignite public outrage. There is no anti-nuclear party here and the issue no longer sparks political debate.”
The results are impressive; 76 percent of French electricity is now generated by nuclear power - the United States’s figure is 16 percent - and France exports its technology to the world. There are reasons for this, and ”Nuclear Power: In France It Works” explains them. It is a solid piece of work.
Speaking to nuclear energy Rene de Preneuf proclaims:
Looking at nuclear statistics in the world, one can only wonder why France occupies such an exceptional place. While nuclear electricity production barely attains 10 to 60 per-cent, at the most, in neighbouring countries, and 17 percent worldwide, it reaches 80 percent in France. While Germany and Sweden are phasing out nuclear and the US, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, etc. are implementing a de factomoratorium, the French are discussing launching a first-of-its-kind EPR reactor to prepare for the renewal of the aging first generation nuclear plants.
This is the fact of the matter: nuclear works. It’s clean. It’s safe. It’s financially competitive.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Hi, I was the guy who left you the ranting message this morning, but I would once again like to congratulate you on being a conservative noise group. You come under the guise of offering environmental solutions when all you are trying to do is marginalize people who actually do care about the environment. Anybody involved in your organization (or similar conservative noise groups) should feel pretty bad for being involved with trying to trick people into supporting what’s essentially the complete opposite of what you claim. I’m not exactly sure what you’re pushing (I’d guess that it’s natural gas), but people who want energy solutions don’t spend 90% of their efforts on hyperbolic smears against “extreme environmentalists.” I agree that we need to get realistic about energy solutions (nuclear power being a prime example), but it’s pretty clear that your group is here to try and remove any perceived opposition to the will of energy interests. So, basically, good job on being pretend activists while mocking people who actually are.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Nobody on this planet, who knows anything at all about it, would agree that nuclear energy is “clean”: not one. There is not one way to spin that statement as true: not one. I was starting to get interested in this site until I read that.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:21 am
NWester:
Nuclear power - just like like wind, hydro and solar energy generates electricity with no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear energy is the only proven option with the capacity to produce vastly expanded supplies of clean electricity on a global scale.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
The ignorance regarding nuclear power can only be forgiven if the uneducated environmentalists are willing to learn. How many reactors are in the US? How long have they been operating? What is the health hazard experience? What is the environmental damage of nuclear? Coal? Gas? Wind? Solar?
To take care of ignorance, I recommend reading Gwyneth Cravens “Power To Save The World”. It details answers to all of these questions. Unless we want to not move, not stay warm or cool, and live in the dark at night, we have to make choices on alternatives that all have negatives (go visit a solar panel plant and follow that manufacturing “food chain”).
Gwyneth is a great writer, ex-nuke protester, and through circuitous circumstances became aware of her own ignorance, educated herself, and then wrote a book to hopefully educate the likes of NWester. It is okay to be wrong. It is not okay to be wrong, ignore the facts, and continue to be wrong. Life is a learning process. Engage in the process.
Another great site for some truth is: http://atomic.thepodcastnetwork.com/
Gwyneth is interviewed on number 73- 1 and 2
October 4th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Searched for oregon health care in msn, but found this page. very helpful!