Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Nuclear Power

Options
11921232425

Comments

  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Chloe Pink wrote: »
    or another nuke, you can backup up nukes with nukes; you can't backup wind generators with wind generators.
    What if your backup nuke is affected by the same problems because it's on the same site ? (Guess how France was planning to power cooling fro offline reactors :rolleyes:)


    And what are the odds of 6 of 23 reactors having unplanned outages at the same time ??


    Or if your backup nukes are also off line because of fake parts (Korea) http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/27/us-nuclear-korea-idUSBRE8AQ0FN20121127
    Revelations that fake certificates were supplied by eight firms forced the shutdown of two of the country's 23 reactors this month, raising the risk of winter power shortages.

    A third reactor was subjected to an extended maintenance period after microscopic cracks were found in tunnels that guide control rods. Nuclear normally accounts for a third of South Korea's power supplies.

    The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said further investigation had uncovered 919 parts of 53 items supplied by two new firms with forged quality documents. Most had been fitted in six reactors -- five of which were already affected by the earlier revelations.

    "We see it as possible for now to change the parts without shutting more reactors down," a commission spokeswoman told Reuters by telephone.

    Six reactors are offline now, according to government data.
    I seem to recall something similar happening in the US too.


    Also arguing about semantics
    You can't use use nukes to provide peak demand, so usage of them needs to be backed up by fossil fuel


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Chloe Pink wrote: »
    So CM, from your posts, it seems we're back to your apparent preference for burning fossil fuels until a major break through occurs in power generation.
    fossil fuels are a fact of life until there is a breakthrough, they are needed to match supply and demand

    breakthroughs won't come from nuclear, unless they get some 1960's technology working after half a century of failure

    changing from coal to gas has probably reduced emissions more than the adoption of nuclear

    the breakthrough will happen through gradual improvements in renewables / demand reduction / load balancing , like I keep pointing out we are getting more energy from renewables than coal. It's like horses were still used for a long time after the invention of the internal combustion engine.


    there is a small chance that there will be a new renewable technology that will change the energy game , there are certainly no shortage of candidates , it's really a matter of economics. Unlike nuclear renewables has benefited from a steady drip drip of improvements


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    I will be in favour of it once the process of nuclear fusion has been improved to such a level as to be economically viable for energy production.

    I am not in favour of nuclear fission, for various reasons. Accidents can and do happen, even in the safest environment. And many nuclear plants are not exactly the safest environments.
    The waste generated during the nuclear fission process is dangerous, and will remain dangerous for millenia. No matter where we decide to store it, there is no guarantee whatsoever that it will not cause massive harm to future generations.


  • Registered Users Posts: 804 ✭✭✭Chloe Pink


    One simple solution is to de-rate wind , if you only take 90% of wind energy then a 10% dip won't affect you.

    Yes gusts of wind affect output, but the effect averages out across a single wind farm. An entire country just isn't affected on that time scale, and besides we are linked to the UK and through them to Western Europe. You can also put anemometers around wind farms to give advance notice of of wind changes

    Have a look at the eirgrid site sometime, it gives 15 minute wind predictions 4 days in advance so the amount of spinning reserve needed is known well in advance

    wind energy can be used to spin the turbines of a pumped storage facility in air. this takes 1% of the turbine output - but hey it's free wind energy :pac:
    the reason to do this is that it reduces the time to spin up to maximum output from a little over a minute to 6-10 seconds


    We have 4 days notice of wind and falls offs can be responded to in 10 seconds

    Another post of waffle:

    The problem is that wind can dip from full output to no output.

    Stop trying to pretend that it's the 'gusting' of the wind that's the problem; it's the overall wind speeds that matter and they can come and go right across Europe at the same time as per the Poyry study: http://www.poyry.com/media/media_2.h...301471113.html
    From it's summary:
    "This heavy reinforcement of interconnection doesn’t appear to offset the need for very much backup plant, however. This surprising observation comes from the fact that weather systems – in particular high pressure ‘cold and calm’ periods in winter – can extend for 1000 miles, so that periods of low wind generation are often correlated across Europe."

    And it's the accuracy of the wind predictions that are an issue.


    Looking at your last two posts, you've said nothing new and are going over the same ground - it still seems we're back to your apparent preference for burning fossil fuels until a major break through occurs in power generation.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Shenshen wrote: »
    The waste generated during the nuclear fission process is dangerous, and will remain dangerous for millenia. No matter where we decide to store it, there is no guarantee whatsoever that it will not cause massive harm to future generations.
    If you dig down into the house of commons report I posted earlier there is a bit where they claim the waste repository will be 300-1,000m underground and one of the committee then mentioned that there were plans for a 1,400m deep mine in his area.

    It's to be hoped that anyone with technology to go that deep in the distant future will be capable of recognising a waste dump if they hit it.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 2,708 ✭✭✭Curly Judge


    No
    Norway don't store the surplus. They just don't use the energy already stored. It's a subtle difference.


    Electricity in Western Europe ebbs and flows across borders. French Nuclear at night, Danish wind when it's windy, Norwegian Hydro when demand is high. None of them can be considered in isolation because they are all interconnected.

    How is French nuclear connected to Norwegian hydro?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,441 ✭✭✭old hippy


    Just saw on the news there that there is a power outage at the fukashima plant and the reactors arent being cooled until the problem is fixed, it is thought that it will be okay but has to fixed within the next 4 days!.................................................................................................................................................................. time is ticking! Nuclear power is perfectly safe and the best we can hope for!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21840080

    There is no immediate threat of a radiation release. But if fresh cooling water is not restored within the deadlines, it is possible that the water in the ponds could start to boil.
    That would lead to a loss of water and eventually to the exposure of the spent fuel rods to air. If that were to happen, reports the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo, it would be a very serious situation and could lead to a release of radiation.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,708 ✭✭✭Curly Judge


    No
    RUSTEDCORE wrote: »
    erm .... space is kinda bid dude....we dont even need to leave it i n our solar system ....could send it as a preemptive strike on some aliens or toss it in a sun/star

    Although a great believer in scientific progress I can't see this getting off the blocks, at least until Arthur C. Clarke's Space Elevator becomes a reality.
    If we are going to dump nuclear waste in space, [and I think it's unnecessary] then the Sun, which is a giant controlled nuclear explosion anyway, would probably be the place to let it off.
    Problem is, that because of planetary dynamics, sending stuff to planets sunward of Earth is costly in fuel terms.
    It would probably be necessary to send it in the opposite direction, towards Mars or Jupiter, and use the slingshot effect of these planets to swing it in towards the Sun.
    I think?


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    If you dig down into the house of commons report I posted earlier there is a bit where they claim the waste repository will be 300-1,000m underground and one of the committee then mentioned that there were plans for a 1,400m deep mine in his area.

    It's to be hoped that anyone with technology to go that deep in the distant future will be capable of recognising a waste dump if they hit it.

    Heh, I hadn't read it, but I'd be lying if I said I was surprised.
    The time frames we're talking about when storing nuclear waste, we have to not only take human actions into account but actual tectonics as well.
    It's not entirely inconceivable that some of the barrels we bury underground at the moment will surface again through tectonic shifts well before the waste they contain has dropped to safe levels of radiation.

    Politicians tend to be very short-sighted at the best of times, you'd be forgiven to assume that they expect the world to end anyway within the next election period or so. So for these people to make decisions on such frankly unimaginable time scales is rather frightening.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    Although a great believer in scientific progress I can't see this getting off the blocks, at least until Arthur C. Clarke's Space Elevator becomes a reality.
    If we are going to dump nuclear waste in space, [and I think it's unnecessary] then the Sun, which is a giant controlled nuclear explosion anyway, would probably be the place to let it off.
    Problem is, that because of planetary dynamics, sending stuff to planets sunward of Earth is costly in fuel terms.
    It would probably be necessary to send it in the opposite direction, towards Mars or Jupiter, and use the slingshot effect of these planets to swing it in towards the Sun.
    I think?

    I think hurling it off towards Jupiter in particular will cause its own problems, as it would need to pass the asteroid belt unscathed, first going towards Jupiter and then returning towards the sun.

    Considering that we currently find it prohibitively expensive to send anything but small probes that far from earth, I cannot see us spending the billions it would take to transport a few tons of material away from earth...


  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Chloe Pink wrote: »
    it's the overall wind speeds that matter and they can come and go right across Europe at the same time as per the Poyry study: http://www.poyry.com/media/media_2.h...301471113.html
    From it's summary:
    "This heavy reinforcement of interconnection doesn’t appear to offset the need for very much backup plant, however. This surprising observation comes from the fact that weather systems – in particular high pressure ‘cold and calm’ periods in winter – can extend for 1000 miles, so that periods of low wind generation are often correlated across Europe."

    And it's the accuracy of the wind predictions that are an issue.

    I'm tired of pointing out that we have a lot of spare capacity here so loosing wind isn't an issue until we have masses more of t.


    How much fossil fuel plant do we need on line to cover for drops in wind ?
    The forecast is for 1.45GW of wind from 9am to 6pm on Thursday - because wind is sooooo unpredictable :pac:

    The rule is that there must be backup to cater for the largest possible fault, ie. a power station going off line. Demand on Thursday from 9 to 6 is going to be around 3.5GW so a lot of fossil fuel plants will be on line. So there will be backup to cater for up to 915MW going off line (depending on which plants are used) This far exceeds the 88.5MW of the largest wind farm. It covers loosing 2/3rds of the wind power countrywide with no warning - an event that would need some sort of Mad Scientist death ray.


    Is this the Poyry report you mean ?
    http://www.eirgrid.com/media/Low%20Carbon%20Generation%20Options%20for%20the%20All%20Island%20Market%20(2).pdf
    for our analysis in this report we use €3,000/kW)
    €3000/KW ? - the UK figure is €5,000
    Figure 10 , page 20 they are using a lifetime cost for nuclear of ~€80/MWh The UK figure is €116/MWh
    In fairness the UK figures came out after that report was done, but they change the economics of Nuclear drastically.

    They propose schemes with up to 80% renewables. The difference being how to cater for times when there will be less wind.


    NB. the UK price is a loss leader price as EDF want to sell more, in the UK maximum public liability is 1% of the project cost, in the UK cabinet ministers resign if they screw up and go to prison for trying to evade penalty points, and the UK have been running nuclear power plants since the 1950's. We don't have these advantages.


    Looking at your last two posts, you've said nothing new and are going over the same ground - it still seems we're back to your apparent preference for burning fossil fuels until a major break through occurs in power generation.
    As opposed to "what happens if the wind drops, OMG we're all going to die!"
    or
    "you can't have wind without constantly burning fossil fuel, coal is dirty" :rolleyes:


    You need to distinguish between desire and acceptance.

    I don't want fossil fuel plants adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere but I accept it continue while we wean ourselves off it.

    And if it is possible to liberate methane hydrates by carbon dioxide storage or to reuse the carbon dioxide in greenhouses then gas isn't that all that bad during the change over.



    Changing existing coal to gas would reduce emissions by more than doubling nuclear power, even if you could find enough uranium at €130/kg to keep them all running for the rest of the design lives.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    How is French nuclear connected to Norwegian hydro?
    Both Germany and the Netherlands have interconnectors to Norway. The UK are looking it to tapping that hydro too.

    UK and Germany have direct links to France.

    Like I said electricity ebbs and flows across borders in Western Europe.


    http://www.icis.com/heren/articles/2013/02/18/9642089/power/edem/tests-for-flow-based-european-electricity-market-integration-start-february,-nwe-coupling-from-april.html
    The NWE project will couple the Day-ahead markets for the CWE countries of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany, along with the Nordic countries and the UK.

    The project testing will also include Portugal and Spain from the South Western European region, as they are well advanced - making sure these countries can be included in the NWE project shortly after it goes live.
    ...
    The project requires cooperation between four electricity exchanges and 13 grid operators across Europe, covering 20 borders. The algorithm originated with the CWE market coupling project, but has been further developed to take into account regional disparities.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭spankmemunkey


    Both Germany and the Netherlands have interconnectors to Norway. The UK are looking it to tapping that hydro too.

    UK and Germany have direct links to France.

    Like I said electricity ebbs and flows across borders in Western Europe.


    http://www.icis.com/heren/articles/2013/02/18/9642089/power/edem/tests-for-flow-based-european-electricity-market-integration-start-february,-nwe-coupling-from-april.html[/QUOTE]

    Germany are on a huge renewables drive at the moment, They have huge amounts of Solar Fields in Africa, They have hit snags but they are keep on going! Merkel has said that she wants to close down all nuclear power plants and source all other alternatives to nuclear power!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,708 ✭✭✭Curly Judge


    No
    Both Germany and the Netherlands have interconnectors to Norway. The UK are looking it to tapping that hydro too.

    UK and Germany have direct links to France.

    Like I said electricity ebbs and flows across borders in Western Europe.


    http://www.icis.com/heren/articles/2013/02/18/9642089/power/edem/tests-for-flow-based-european-electricity-market-integration-start-february,-nwe-coupling-from-april.html[/QUOTE]

    Germany are on a huge renewables drive at the moment, They have huge amounts of Solar Fields in Africa, They have hit snags but they are keep on going! Merkel has said that she wants to close down all nuclear power plants and source all other alternatives to nuclear power!

    Meanwhile....back at the ranch!
    http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN_Second_new_US_reactor_under_way_1503131.html


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,015 ✭✭✭Hitchens


    The first of a planned new generation of nuclear power plants in the UK has been given approval.
    Energy Secretary Ed Davey told MPs in the Commons that he was granting planning consent for French energy giant EDF to construct Hinkley Point C in Somerset.
    The proposed £14bn power plant would be capable of powering five million homes.
    Mr Davey said the project was "of crucial national importance" but environmental groups reacted angrily.


    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21839684


  • Registered Users Posts: 804 ✭✭✭Chloe Pink



    Apologies, I should have checked the link, no this one page 9:
    http://www.poyry.co.uk/sites/www.poyry.uk/files/NEWSISv1_0.pdf
    "This heavy reinforcement of interconnection doesn’t appear to offset the need for very much backup plant, however. This surprising observation comes from the fact that weather systems – in particular high pressure ‘cold and calm’ periods in winter – can extend for 1000 miles, so that periods of low wind generation are often correlated across Europe."

    It was published after the Poyry study you linked to.


    However the link you provided is certainly worth a read even if only the 'Executive Summary' on page 1
    'A look into the Future' 1.2 on page 3
    'Concluding Remarks' on page 49.

    "While wind power is a growing force around Europe, the intermittent output of windfarms is challenging the nature of power systems everywhere." In our experience, while many have speculated on the likely patterns of the wind, properly understanding how the impact of wind on the rest of the system requires detailed quantitative models – and ones that are able to include the inevitable interaction with the electricity system in Great Britain."

    "Many countries’ approach to decarbonisation includes a growing nuclear component.
    Although nuclear power stations are not currently a legal option in Ireland, we believe that due consideration of them as an option is worthwhile."

    Really need to read at least the sections suggested if not all of it to put it all in perspective.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    My laptop says I should plug in or "find an alternative power source".


  • Registered Users Posts: 804 ✭✭✭Chloe Pink


    My laptop says I should plug in or "find an alternative power source".
    "Storage, by itself, is insufficient to manage intermittent renewable generation
    because of its power and energy capacity constraints but it can make a contribution towards managing intermittency as part of a portfolio with interconnection and flexible generation. There are also capital cost, environmental and technical issues that need to be examined further to develop this concept."


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Chloe Pink wrote: »
    As for costs, look at the anticipated cost of £160 billion in subsidies alone for wind turbines in the UK http://www.ref.org.uk/presentations/259-cheltenham-science-festival-wind-power-debate
    "7. To drive investment to meet our targets we will have to subsidise the renewable electricity to the tune of about £8 billion a year in 2020, and for next twenty years. A modest target for renewable heat in the UK will cost £2 billion in subsidies. These sums would be unaffordable in good times, and are completely so in the present situation. No wonder that the Treasury is seeking to lift this burden from domestic households and businesses."
    the previous point was this
    6. Think about the costs, and lets think locally. In between 2002 and 2011 the UK consumer shelled out £7.3 billion in income support for renewable electricity alone, and the annual cost is currently about £1.5 billion a year and climbing rapidly.

    It's an opinion piece, because I can't figure out why when we know wind subsidies are falling (cf., Barcleys bank doing a investors prospectus for dash for wind while it still commands a premium price ) that the future subsidy per year will be greater than all the subsidies of the last decade.

    If you have any evidence to support his claim I'd be interested in hearing it.

    Also , and this is a key point, it's only a subsidy when the price is above the market price.

    Do we know if EDF got their 10p a unit ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭Tomk1


    No
    My laptop says I should plug in or "find an alternative power source".

    My laptop baterry doesn't even work


  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Tomk1 wrote: »
    My laptop baterry doesn't even work
    :(


    Update on fake parts.

    I've already posted about Nice Korea having to take 6 nuclear plants off line this winter ( and Korea has real winters) because of fake parts. Given the public image of nuclear you'd think that those running nuclear plants would be taking pains to avoid repeating the mistakes of others.

    It was an eye-opener for two reasons, one because I hadn't anticipated this mode of system wide failure and two because it's actually happened before - so just smacks of yet more incompetence and/ or simply not learning from previous events and/or penny pinching by the nuclear industry. 1988 http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1988/Bogus-Valve-Parts-Found-At-Nuclear-Plants/id-6992cc144cbb0d86d2d575c5be11425b
    Bogus steam valve parts have been found at a nuclear power plant in Michigan, marking the third type of counterfeit equipment uncovered in the industry in the last two years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was told Tuesday.
    ...
    Consumers Power discovered the faulty parts when a repaired valve leaked, Grimes said. ''Some of the parts they had procured turned out to be misrepresented and counterfeit,'' and an investigation by the manufacturer, Masoneilan-Dresser Co., concluded ''there appeared to be a counterfeit market,'' he said.
    ...
    A large nuclear plant may have as many as 40,000 valves of all kinds, 10 times as many as a coal plant of the same power rating.
    2008 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000101/posts
    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a notice Monday reminding reactor license applicants and nuclear power plant operators to prevent counterfeit parts from posing a safety concern. The notice cites two counterfeit valves at the Hatch facility near Baxley, Ga., of which NRC learned in November 2007, and one of these was installed as a cooling water pump discharge stop check valve on Hatch Unit 2. Catawba, a facility in Rock Hill, S.C., removed four circuit breakers from its stock after checking and being unable to confirm their authenticity,


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Chloe Pink wrote: »
    The problem is that wind can dip from full output to no output.
    Eirgrid have years of wind power data.
    (there are some bits missing)

    Show me the dip - remember a weather front doesn't move far in 15 minutes.
    Show me the dip wasn't predicted ( they store the wind predictions too)
    Show me the dip was bigger than the reserve capacity needed to cater for the failure of the largest generation source

    Again so what if we have no wind for weeks in winter (the worst case) because we have a lot of spare capacity, stuff like demand shedding is also an option. And finally the blackouts caused by Enron & Co. show that we'll survive.

    It's a case of how much you are willing to spend on energy security vs. the odds of getting no wind for an extended period.


  • Registered Users Posts: 804 ✭✭✭Chloe Pink


    I can't figure out why when we know wind subsidies are falling (cf., Barcleys bank doing a investors prospectus for dash for wind while it still commands a premium price ) that the future subsidy per year will be greater than all the subsidies of the last decade.

    If you have any evidence to support his claim I'd be interested in hearing it.

    Also , and this is a key point, it's only a subsidy when the price is above the market price.
    As it says, "to meet our targets" i.e. if installed wind capacity is increased to meet our targets, these are the costs.

    "9. But wind requires heavy income support subsidy, 50% of the income of an onshore wind farm is subsidy, 66% of an offshore site. They’re just not ready. Wind also requires indirect subsidy in the sense that somebody else has to pay for the additional grid management costs that it imposes, for network expansion, and the provision of conventional support capacity to meet errors in the wind forecast and to guarantee security of supply on a cold, windless, winter afternoon.

    10. The net result is extremely expensive emissions savings. Even at a generous estimate onshore wind costs about £90 of subsidy per tonne of CO2. Offshore wind is even worse, £180 a tonne, in comparison to EU ETS costs at under €10/tCO2. When system costs are taken into account these wind costs, already absurd, can only rise.

    11. £90 a tonne is not in any sense a viable climate change policy, it’s a vanity project, and unsurprisingly it has failed at the international level, and is now failing in a Europe that can no longer afford such gestures."


  • Registered Users Posts: 804 ✭✭✭Chloe Pink


    It's a case of how much you are willing to spend on energy security vs. the odds of getting no wind for an extended period.
    Exactly and it's the fact that wind turbines are additional generators therefore requiring additional costs to existing systems rather than being substitute generators that displace other system costs that is pretty naff.

    Plus as per above
    "Wind also requires indirect subsidy in the sense that somebody else has to pay for the additional grid management costs that it imposes, for network expansion, and the provision of conventional support capacity to meet errors in the wind forecast and to guarantee security of supply on a cold, windless, winter afternoon."


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    As for Cyber Security..

    How likely is the stuff in Die Hard 4 ? If you have an industrial control system on the internet you can expect it to get probed on the first day. They are even attacking from Laos ! page 2
    A recent study by InfraCritical discovered that 500,000 SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) networks were susceptible to attack, highlighting the wide-scale vulnerability of systems that control the operations of power and water plants, among other critical facilities. According to recent research conducted by ICS-CERT, 171 unique vulnerabilities affecting 55 different ICS vendors were found last year alone (PDF).
    ...
    According to Tofino Security, there is a one in 12 chance that any patch will affect the safety or reliability of a control system, and there is a 60 per cent failure rate in patches fixing the reported vulnerability in control system products. In addition, patches often require staff with special skills to be present. In many cases, such experts are often not certified for access to safety regulated industrial sites.


    Known vulnerabilities have been hidden from plant operators [/
    Legal threats have silenced security warnings at a recent systems-control conference.
    ...
    "In addition, attendees said they were alarmed to learn that because the government has kept a technique it discovered for attacking electricity generation equipment secret for five years, potential targets had not realized they were vulnerable and therefore did not buy hardware needed to protect themselves."
    ...
    In 2007, an experimental test of Aurora demonstrated how physical damage to a power plant could be triggered by a cyber attack


    Malware attack on control systems at nuclear facilities have caused physical damage. This stuff is not theoretical, it has already happened.



    one researcher took control of 420,000 devices world wide and then used them to probe other stuff. Of course they weren't the only one.
    "While everybody is talking about high-class exploits and cyberwar, four simple stupid default telnet passwords can give you access to hundreds of thousands of consumer as well as tens of thousands of industrial devices all over the world," the unnamed researcher stated in the report.
    ...
    But it soon found it was getting competition from a malicious botnet dubbed Aidra and the researcher adapted the binary to block this competitor where possible, but estimates it still has around 30,000 endpoints.
    This stuff is not theoretical, it has already happened.




    At least the industry has belatedly realised that hacking is a problem and needs to talk about it.
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/19/iaea_nuke_hack_defence_meeting/


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Chloe Pink wrote: »
    "Wind also requires indirect subsidy in the sense that somebody else has to pay for the additional grid management costs that it imposes, for network expansion, and the provision of conventional support capacity to meet errors in the wind forecast and to guarantee security of supply on a cold, windless, winter afternoon."
    Both costs are near zero since they are being done regardless.

    We will be getting smart meters, Eirgrid is upgrading the network, more control systems are automated.

    How many times do I have to tell you that we have lots of spare capacity and have to run it to cover a fossil fuel plant going off line as that has a far larger impact than loosing any wind farm.



    UK investing £1Bn in carbon capture - not good news for nuclear
    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/preferred-bidders-announced-in-uk-s-1bn-ccs-competition

    http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121217150421/http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_086/pn12_086.aspx
    Support for onshore wind from 2013-17 will be reduced by 10% to 0.9ROCs, as consulted on in Autumn 2011. This level is guaranteed until at least 2014 but could change after then if there is a significant change in generation costs.
    ...
    Rates of support for offshore wind will reduce as the cost of the technology comes down during the decade;
    ...
    By 2017, this package could deliver as much as 79 TWh of renewable electricity per annum in the UK - nearly three-quarters (74%) of the way towards the 108TWh of electricity needed to meet the UK’s 2020 renewable energy target.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight




  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    How did they screw up concrete ?

    So how many years delay ?
    Site preparation for two new reactors at Vogtle began in mid-2009, with a licence to build and operate them following in February 2012. But project leader Georgia Power encountered problems that forced it to amend its licence and use a different concrete mix. This licensing issue was resolved at the end of February but the delay pushed back start-up dates for the two new units to late 2017 and late 2018.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,708 ✭✭✭Curly Judge


    No
    How did they screw up concrete ?

    So how many years delay ?

    If a cat had kittens in the mop room of a nuclear power station, you people would log it as a major incident.


  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,636 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    If a cat had kittens in the mop room of a nuclear power station, you people would log it as a major incident.
    Fast breeder catastrophe :eek:

    Officials deny this will affect the ability to deal with leakages.

    Cluster of newborns with ability to see in the dark dismissed as not statistically valid.


Advertisement