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From: mikevp@proper.UUCP (Mike Van Pelt)
Newsgroups: net.followup,net.politics
Subject: Re: alternate, hopefully safe, energy sources
Message-ID: <1498@proper.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-Aug-84 02:42:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: proper.1498
Posted: Tue Aug 14 02:42:14 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 10-Aug-84 02:26:24 EDT
References: <9368@gatech.UUCP>
Organization: Proper UNIX, San Leandro, CA
Lines: 38



Fusion certainly sounds good, but there are some real questions as to
whether it can be made practical.  The intense neutron bombardment that
it would deliver to the internal structure of the plant is likely to
cause structural problems: If you have to rebuild the plant every couple
of months, it isn't likely to pay for itself.  That same neutron bombardment
will make those internal parts radioactive, though they aren't as long-
lived as some of the actinides produced in fission plants.  And it is by
no means proven that "break even" is possible with current technology, much
less useful amounts of power.
 
That's the big problem:  We are already in trouble as far as our electrial
generation capacity goes.  The anti-nukes make a big deal over the fact that
there are no new orders for nuclear plants.  That's true, but the whole
truth is that there are no new orders for >any< kind of power plants, except
for a few wind, solar, etc, which produce little dribbles of power.  With
the long lead times for getting a plant on line, we are going to have
shortages, brownouts, and blackouts in the 90's.  Can we wait for fusion?

If you are hoping that fusion will be safe enough to calm the fears of the
people who are waxing hysterical over the alleged dangers of fission plants,
I wouldn't count on that either.  I have seen some articles and heard some
stuff from Berkely already which makes me pretty sure that the scare
campaigns are being readied just in case fusion does pan out.  Let me try
this quote out on you:  I got it from someone who claims he got it from
one of his physics proffessors at UC Berkely.

   "Fusion plants use and release tritium, which is, next to plutonium,
   the worst thing you can put in your body.  It goes straight to your
   DNA, then when it decays, *pow*, one broken DNA chain."

Sure, that's absurd.  But no more absurd than what is being peddled about
fission plants.  The real argument is not for or against fission or fusion.
It is whether or not we are going to have the kind of technological 
civilization that uses electrical power in any quantity.  The "saFety"
issue is just a red herring, though lots of people have been taken in by
the scare tactics and are concerned about safety.