[ExI] Two Japanese reactors on red alert

[Eugen Leitl]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 09:20:19AM -0700, spike wrote:

> This incident may have slain nuclear power permanently.  Reasoning: it

You're too optimistic. People forget. Consider these 7 nuclear
plants just shut down in Germany, for three months. Funny
coincidence, this: http://www.wahlrecht.de/termine.htm

> severely damaged investor confidence.  Investors must take into account not

Political decisions (e.g. Areva) do not concern with private investors,
and billing the entire life cycle into the accounting.

> only the safety of a system, but also the public perception of the safety of
> a system.  Protestors and legal roadblocks drive up costs.  Solar power and
> high cost energy-efficiency technology have now become the path of choice.  

Negawatts have an excellent ROI, and they do come in fine-grain
packages. I always wondered why so many people in U.S. insisted
to heat the cosmic microwave background quite directly.

Ditto small scale renewable. No economies of scale for your
favor, the opposite, in fact. Central facilities have conversion
and transport losses.
 
> Regardless of the outcome at this point, nuclear power has sustained
> irreparable harm in Japan.  "No Nukes" is a meme that is made powerful by
> its being able to fit on a bumper sticker.  No investors, no power plant.

If there's a will, there's usually a way. I predict that Ferkel's ruse
will work.