15 Comments

  1. Hi,

    Someone should make a one liner for those people who lived in towns like Odaka. They were evacuated for no goos reasons and they allowed to go back home.

    No one came back. Odaka is now a ghost town.

    I hope they moved to Denver, which I am sure, is more radio active than Odaka ever was.

  2. Another thing that is irritating me.

    Why would people state that the NRC is the gold standard for the nuclear industry ?

    It is the death standard.

  3. Have the Japanese government proclaim that “forbidden” town for free homesteading and see how fast the ghosts will be run out.

    James Greenidge
    Queens NY

    1. Have the Japanese Prime Minister open some important office there. Walk the walk.

    2. That would be a hell of an opportunity for us pro-nukes to show the nuke-agnostic masses that even if something does go wrong, it’s perfectly safe to stay put.
      That and it’s free land for a bunch of pro-nukes! Although I’d hate to see the insurance bills for any homes put there!

      Rod, an informative post as always.

  4. I believe Wald’s dripping wax analogy was meant to say that “it’s not a question of IF, but WHEN the dangerous radioactive particles will ooze their way into the biosphere” (wax hitting the tablecloth). Obviously your interpretation of it better describes the physical reality.

    I tried contacting Wald several times regarding why his blogroll included only anti-nuclear environmental groups and no pro. Although I spoke respectfully, I never received a reply, and the list was never revised.

    Wald remains an influential commentator, and I believe he is educable regarding the benefits of atomic energy, if they are convincingly shown to him. It is important that proponents emulate Rod and occasionally wade through the cesspool of FUD that accumulates on the NYT (and Huffington Post) comments sections to provide an alternate viewpoint to that of the swarming vociferous opposition.

  5. Come on….
    Wald is a smart guy, but he works for the New York Times, which has been alarmist and dishonest about Fukushima.

    Wald has had many bad blog/articles for those paying attention. His main source of nuclear information has been Alverez for God’s sake. Look how many times he has quoted him in 2011. I count 7 times.

  6. Thanks Rod. If I had not read your review, I might have purchased the book, which appears to tell either this we already know or things that are wrong.

    The LNT theory is junk science and is killing the nuclear industry. The nuclear community should stop defending itself against the anti nukes and start attacking the junk scientists who feed public fears. Fight bad science with good science.

  7. When discussing used fuel the natural reactors in Oklo seem to be the gold standard. However, when discussing Yucca Mountain I find reference to the large uranium deposit at Pena Blanca, Mexico, to be more useful. The geography and climate of the two locations are very similar and Pena Blanca has the much dreaded oxidizing environment.

    Pena Blanca consists of a large uranium deposit that is exposed to the environment. However, even after millions of years, it is still there. Exposure to water didn’t suddenly make the uranium dissolve and disperse itself over hundreds of square miles. The exposed surface oxidized (as expected) and the layers remaining underneath are still just a nice black, intact UO2. This just shows that even if the fuel pellets were exposed to water in an oxidizing environment the outer part of the pellet would oxidize but the bulk of the pellet would remain intact and continue to safely contain the fission products.

    1. However water does slowly dissolve uranium. That’s why there’s so much in the seawater, it slowly accumulates from the soils.

      1. The key word being slowly. The “conservative” estimates or uranium dissolution rates used for Yucca Mountain is easily a factor of 10 higher than what a reasonable conservative estimate should be. Some naysayers like to paint a picture that shows the used fuel being instantaneously dissolved as soon as it comes in contact with water. The fact is, it takes a really long time for the UO2 to dissolve and release its fission products (Cs, Sr, and I do release quickly but the half lives are short enough they do not factor into long-term storage).

  8. “Rod Adams

    Pro-nuclear advocate .. Former submarine Engineer Officer”

    Well, Mr. Adams, Matt Wald wrote an article a few years before 9/11 detailing daily training exercises and how the AF/ANG at NEADS was notified early in the morning of assets available and exercises planned for that day. Later claims by NEADS that they had no assets and were unaware of what was where can be found in that article, alone.

    Yet Mr. Wald never referred anyone to his own work, afterwards.

    As you are ex-Navy, Mr. Adams, any insights as to Giant Killer’s role on that day?

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