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[cdn-nucl-l] Candu Blues
Paul Webster continues his attack on CANDU with another article at:
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/commodities/article.jsp?content=20060327_75528_75528
Nuclear war: energy
Paul Webster
From the March 27-April 9, 2006 issue of Canadian Business magazine
Here is a quote to give you the general slant of the article:
<quote>On the phone from his office in Cornwall, England, Knox says the
Candus showed great promise in their early years before succumbing to
premature aging problems that have sharply curbed their performance.
Knox admits comparing reactor technologies is devilishly tricky, but
suggests an analogy can be drawn to buying a new car. "You have to take
a look at how much it's going to cost to keep it on the road," he says.
"Up until the late 1980s, AECL was streets ahead of anybody for
performance. But they've not had much luck since then."</quote>
Webster only likes to list problems. He never suggests solutions. So
the article does not discuss how AECL can move ahead in this competitive
business. In my humble opinion, AECL has to change the nature of the
game, and propose an approach that solves the new generation problem in
1 MW increments instead of huge, financially risky, slow 1000 MW steps.
The key technology for such an initiative has been listed here often:
CANDU design, liquid fuel, thorium, high temperature superconductivity,
air cooled. However, instead of enterprise, innovation, and
improvement, AECL is going to rely on the restrictive regulatory regime
which has only approved their design in Ontario. I think this is
lamentable. The regulatory regime that weighs down the nuclear industry
everywhere is an anchor heavy enough to keep fission out of the global
warming solution space.
--
Randal Leavitt - another Ubuntu user
http://positiveenergy.blogspot.com/
http://www.simpy.com/user/randalleavitt/links
http://tinyurl.com/hgvmg