[cdn-nucl-l] Re:RE: Tilting at Windmills (Franta, Jaroslav)

["Edward Oleen" <eoleen@earthlink.net>]

I wish to take issue with one point: Jaroslav said"

"... so there would be no problem in providing a reliable source of 
standby power to back up the 100MW of wind committed in the
last 18 months."

In this particualr case this may in fact  be true: the power available 
is some 2,700 Mw - 100Mw is a small fraction of this.  However, in 
general one can NOT depend on anything-fired thermal to "back up" wind 
or solar or whatever.  It is for a simple reason: one soes NOT turn on 
a large thermal power plant by simply throwing a switch - it is not a 
small backup generator.

Bringing a large power plant on line can take days.  And most 
tirbine/alternators must be kept spinning to prevent the axle from 
taking on a sag, which would destroy the critical clearances in both 
the turbine and the alternator.

They are not meant to be turned off, except very rarely for 
maintenance.

They are NOT "Back-up" anything - they are the base power suppliers

Even thinking of them in terms of "back-up" is dangerous.