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Dear speakupvictoria.com, I'm speaking up!
I decided to republish my blog today to answer yet another of speakupvictoria.com's questions. "Why aren't other cities lining up to get a nuclear plant?"(paraphrased) Well, the answer to that question is very simple! Not many other cities have the surplus water needed for the project! To further answer that question; if Bay City weren't already in line for another unit at STNP they would happily slit our throats for the Exelon project! Just ask them! I also found it interesting that the two main spokesmen for this group are strangely silent and refuse to come out and speak up on this public forum! I'm certainly nothing to fear for these two well-heeled college graduates! Or do they fear the bloggers? Do they fear the people who have nothing better to do than sit back and prove them wrong! There are a lot of us out here that may want them to answer a few questions! Like, why is it they seem to have a we've got ours, the hell with the rest of you attitude? So here's your opportunity! speakupvictoria.com keeps asking questions in their advertising but remain silent every time a public opportunity is given to ask questions! Therefore I decided to answer some of their concerns! John and Bill,
Man you guys are making this easy! You are aware that Exelon was not even a corporation when the original tritium leak occurred. It's public knowledge. If you'd taken the opportunity you've been crying for to ask hard questions in public, you'd have found that Exelon bought people's land from them to mitigate this leak on a plant they purchased. If you'd taken that golden opportunity to ask those questions you'd have learned that because of Exelon's efforts to install and operate a rigorous new groundwater testing system at all their plants they found tritium at another plant they bought and are cleaning up that site as you read this on a leak they didn't even cause!
But no! You sat back and smugly remained silent! That way you can continue to sit back and throw rocks! This is indeed the third opportunity you've passed up to ask your hard questions in public.
If you had bothered to ask those questions you keep talking about you'd have learned months ago that the plant will not require near the 75,000 a/f of water GBRA promised them. You would have also found out that I personally warned them about GBRAs reputation and they were doing their own independent studies anyway! You would have also learned that they plan a 105,000 a/f reservoir with a possible addition to that and that their engineers have already figured in evaporation rates and seepage back in to the aquifer! You would have also learned that the actual seepage rate from the cooling pond will exceed the amount of groundwater needed for the plant creating a net increase to the aquifer!
If you had bothered to come to the Exelon presentation at the groundwater district months ago you'd have been able to ask public questions about anything you wanted! No! You weren't there. Neither did either of you attend any of the technical forums for the management plan. I made all but one!
"...wetlands, bays and estuaries...!" Hmmm, I've been nominated to serve on the stakeholder's group studying that very issue! Oops! You weren't there for that were you? The city, county, VEDC and private individuals nominated me to serve on this group. Where were you if you're so concerned about the bays and estuaries?
Is the site geologically sound? Would a national energy firm with a board and stockholders to answer to build a multi-billion dollar project without doing geological and hydrological studies and take core samples? No, and you know that because you are aware of the core samples and site work they are doing right now! Leaking into the groundwater! Hmmm! Yup, there will be seepage of cooling pond water back into the aquifer. However, if you'd bothered to show up at the groundwater district and ask you'd have learned that Exelon will be drilling a large number of monitor wells around the plant to check that very thing!
Yes, the plant will be 12 miles from Victoria. The greatest danger is that irrational, unreasonable and unfounded fear of nuclear technology will drive away the jobs and capitol investment that would help insulate Victoria from hard economic times! If you had spent the time and effort I have to research Generation III nuclear technology you'd know exactly how safe it is! If you'd spent the time I have building and installing some of the technology used in process safety you'd have no problem with it.
Ahhh! The "safety record of the technology!" Good question! If you'd bothered to do your homework you'd know that the new Advanced Boiling Water Reactors(ABWRs) are indeed very advanced. In fact, as I sit and write this, the Japanese are building three ABWR plants. The Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor(ESBWR) is even more advanced than those! It employs less pumps and piping and uses less nuclear fuel. Which technology are you asking about? The 30 to 50 year old technology used to build the last plant in the United States or the Generation III planned for Victoria? There are a number of ABWRs operating safely around the world.
It can easily be secured! Tell you what, you drive a bobtail truck down to the STNP plant in Bay City and make a run for the gate! Just leave a note on what to do with your body!
It's going to be very difficult for a nuclear accident to happen since the ESBWRs cooling water is stored directly above the reactor. Should the core overheat and crack the containment shell the cooling water drops down and drowns the core. Since the cooling water is indeed stored above the core, it is gravity fed to the core and does not have to rely on pumps to flood the core. Fewer pumps and less piping means less to go wrong or fail. In the nuclear industry the ESBWR is deemed "passively safe."
I fully expect nuclear waste to be recycled in coming years but storing it on site will certainly create no greater risk since it's stored in very secure concrete vaults. And considering the efficiency of nuclear power and especially the efficiency of the ESBWR it will take many years to build up even a small amount of spent nuclear fuel. In fact, the old reactors that have been running for 30 to 50 years all together have only produced enough spent fuel to cover one football field only seven yards deep. Let's see that's how many billions of KWHs for that miniscule amount of fuel? In all that time they have produced no green house gasses or particulate air pollution.
Intelligent people would indeed wonder about the reputation of a community that would not allow such a huge capitol investment! Perhaps anyone with such an irrational, unreasonable and unfounded fear of this technology should indeed live elsewhere! Let's not contaminate our gene pool with more ignorance!
Personally, I expect my property values to increase. That is, of course, unless uranium exploration starts within miles of my house.
"Will there be enough water for economic development?" I cannot believe you asked that! Bill Richter and I fought the Lower Guadalupe Water Supply Project in order to stop San Antonio from getting our water for their economic development and now that we indeed have a chance at economic development and a huge capitol investment, you come out and oppose it! And then have the audacity to say you're worried about economic development? Give me a break!
"The plant introduces economic risks without truly exploring alternative energy options!" "Truly" I believe it's your own lawyer, Jim Blackburn, who is presently suing to oppose a wind farm on Kenedy Ranch! The last time I checked wind power is a popular form of "alternative energy!" Perhaps your camp should get all your ducks in a row before speaking up!
There you go, Bill and John! "5 key questions!" I addressed them all. Try visiting Bill Harris at 114 N. Main! Sit down and he'll furnish all the technical data you need to answer your questions.
I'm going to post this on my Advocate blog so everyone in the area will be able to get in on this conversation!
20 comments from 5 users
posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 21, 2008 at 04:49 PM
John, "You can argue me all you want but..." kind of sounds like "...no matter what all you guys say...!" Yes, there is a danger of water depletion in Texas. The main problem is that the majority of the huge economic development projects are not where the water is. WE HAVE WATER HERE! PLENTY OF IT! FOR OUR OWN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT! NOT SOMEONE ELSES! If we don't get this project I promise you we'll see that same water watering PGA Village in San Antonio! It'll go to Boerne where they're covering over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone with pavement and mimi malls! Is that what you want! rollinstone very adequately answered your concern and I answered the speakupvictoria.com questions very well.
posted by
rollinstone
on Jul 21, 2008 at 02:42 PM
The nuclear power plant will increase the water usage in Texas from 17 to 17.03 million acre feet for each 1000 MW reactor. If they build 3 reactors it would increase it to about 17.1 million acre feet per year. Gosh I'm worried about my water bill in 2060, I just hope I have power for my high efficiency light bulbs to read it.
posted by
sandwichh
on Jul 21, 2008 at 02:31 PM
What is clear is that we CANNOT be energy sufficient to only us with just oil and gas, nuclear, solar, wind (which is actually part of the solar thing), coal, etc.. It will take ALL since our economy is what it is and the elite should not be allowed to be the only one's to live like they do (Al Gore).
We have to drill, explore, open areas up to coal to gas, coal to oil, nuclear, wind turbine, solar, where to put all the batteries, where to destroy and reuse the old batteries, etc.. Not one thing, all of it. Anyone who does not believe or tries to propagandize that we can self sufficient with only "green stuff" is flat out LYING. Bottom line. We are 10 to 15 years minimum to viable, reliable renewable stuff that fits a very small part of our economy, traditions, lifestyle. Or we can go back 40 years to no electronics to recharge. A vast part of medical equipment is plastics, petroleum based plastics. posted by
Spock
on Jul 21, 2008 at 01:32 PM
A book (one I used in 1984-85 to set up a completely energy-independent acreage) several folks here might find interesting is "How to Make Home Electricity From Wind, Water, and Sunshine," by John A. Kuecken. Another is "The Guide to Sel-Sufficiency" by John Seymour. Oh, and by the way, anyone able to do the math necessary to intrapolate the date being published by the several sources declaiming on the subject would know that there is no way an area like that in question can sustain contamination of water tables and other sources by in situ leech mining, supply cooling for a nuclear installation like the one in question, and supply the normal water needs of the public. The may be a lot of land in Texas waste enough for nuclear waste dumping, but there sure ain't enough water. People - several friends of mine so advised by their doctors - are already leaving on account of the murderous level of pollutants (heavy metals emitted by oil refineries, for instance) already saturating the land and atmosphere here. We - the wife and I - won't be far behind. Face it, folks - as far as "Corporate America" and its courts are concerned, we're just "collateral damage" in business. posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 21, 2008 at 09:38 AM
It's kind of interesting that the two main mouthpieces for speakupvictoria.com refuse to us this public forum to ask the hard questions they so want answered!
posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 20, 2008 at 11:24 PM
GE makes an excellent, very efficient 3.6 megawatt turbine that sits on a 40 story tower! However, no matter how efficient the turbine there must be transmission lines. I happen to know something about metals commodoties and the price of steel for grid system projects has increased by a huge percentile in the past 5 years. Sadly, you are correct. Unless these projects are virtually next to existing grid systems the will never provide less expensive power! No way, no how! Interesting how Bill and John haven't come out to play! Seems like all they like to do is stay in the background and posture! posted by
rollinstone
on Jul 20, 2008 at 10:43 PM
The Exelon unit will probably require additional transmission line capacity. But the increase will be about 1,000 megawatts. To produce 1,000 megawatts with wind you have to install wind turbines that will generate 3,000 megawatts equivalent to about 1,500, two megawatt wind turbines spread out over 234 square miles. In addition the transmission lines will have to be designed to handle 3,000 megawatts, but again the average generation will only be 1,000 megawatts - it's a waste of money.
posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 20, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Bill Jones and John Figer are strangely silent for folks who so want to have their questions answered!
posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 20, 2008 at 03:40 PM
Touche! There is a well established system of power line right-of-ways along the Gulf Coast. TBP is proposing to build a grid system from North Texas down into the heart of the state. He needs those electrical right-of-ways to lay his water pipelines. If he gets his way the Ogallala is finished. Even here in South Texas the closer a wind farm is to an existing grid the cheaper that electricity is going to be. I say the more wind farms the better. posted by
allfiredup
on Jul 20, 2008 at 10:29 AM
What grid system would the Exelon plant use? posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 20, 2008 at 10:22 AM
On this, at least, we pretty well agree. I honestly believe that some solar can play a roll in our needs but the History Channel show was just too silly! I wonder who produced it? I also found their program "The Glow Train" offensive and insulting to the intelligence. I am actually practicing passive solar right now. I don't plant any trees on the place that don't either produce food or shade the house or both. It saves on the electricity used to cool the house. That's almost anti-solar. I also use the sun to heat food in dark containers before beginning to cook. It works! The sun helps heat up my compost which I use to cut down on other chemical fertilizers. posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 20, 2008 at 09:58 AM
Allfiredup, I agree 100%. I am aware of the science of interconnection between windfarms bringing about a baseload ability. I'd like to see that happen. There is just one small-er...strike that-one huge, very expensive problem with that. The grid system. Condemning and purchasing right-of-ways, then building the grid system for that is incredibly expensive and time consuming! I want to see it happen. I want to see more wind farms. More solar arrays! We need to get to work on that right now! Today! Without another seconds delay, but you still have landowners to contend with. Extremist environmentalists are fighting wind in South Texas right now! Jim Blackburn, who works for the O'Connors is trying to stop wind right now. He'd rather see electrical rationing than new power sources.
posted by
rollinstone
on Jul 20, 2008 at 09:54 AM
Ken you cannot believe everything you see on TV. Solar radiation hitting Earth's atmosphere is about 1367 watts/sq-meter or 127 watts/sq-foot. Only 40% of this energy reaches the ground. In addition solar panels are currently about 10% efficient and because they don't work well at night or cloudy days their capacity utilization is only about 37%. This means they develop on the average about 1.88 watts/sq-foot. In 2006 the This means just to supply our electrical needs there would have to be 5.7 million acres of solar panels not 10,000 acres. I am telling you this just to show how stupid the concept of renewal energy is. The activists will tell you it will work all they need is more time to try more gizmos, some chewing gum and baling wire…and I thought Rube Goldberg died. There goal is to build so much over capacity of renewable energy that there will always be an abundant supply…somewhere. That also means a huge increase in transmission lines. I can’t wait for my first renewable energy electric bill. posted by
allfiredup
on Jul 20, 2008 at 09:27 AM
From http://thefraserdomain.type... A study conducted by Stanford University confirmed that interconnected multiple wind farms can be used to provide baseload electric power. Interconnecting wind farms with a transmission grid reduces the power swings caused by wind variability and makes a significant portion of it just as consistent a power source as a coal power plant.
posted by
KennethSchustereit
on Jul 19, 2008 at 10:52 PM
Sandwichh, Drill Here! Drill now! Pay less! I'm with you!
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