A Safe Fuel for Nuclear Power Plants

by R. Elgin on November 16, 2012

Safety checks at South Korea’s nuclear power plants could mean that there are rolling blackouts this winter as South Korea prepares for the cold season. Though there are plans to add 4,000 megawatts (MW) of power supply capacity through savings and new plants, the possibility of rolling blackouts remain. A safer fuel source for nuclear plants, such as seen above, might help avoid blackouts.

The Government does have a plan for avoiding blackouts, of course, such as setting thermostats to 18˚ to 20˚ at home. Considering the cooler thermostat setting and the season, playing Christmas music and drinking premium whiskey is another way to keep warm at home, making this a season to enjoy. Cheers.

{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }

1 cm November 16, 2012 at 9:37 pm: Safe but terribly polluting.
2 characteristic November 16, 2012 at 11:34 pm: Not so safe either — people used to die of carbon monoxide poisoning from burning these things improperly and not ventilating their rooms.
3 cm November 16, 2012 at 11:39 pm: @#2,

not really. It used to be when the ondol floors had cracks on them, allowing the carbon monoxide to seep into the sleeping room.

Yontan would be good for old homes that still uses that, but it won’t help the majority of people who live in apartments.
4 CactusMcHarris November 17, 2012 at 1:11 am: My first (and only) cat in Korea was named Yontan for its calico colours resembling all stages of said processed coal unit. It died less than a year old from eating a poisoned rat (Since I’m a Rat, I took that as a sign of it’d be best not having any more cats in Korea, which then didn’t treat its cats humanely – now there are coffee shops where you can pet cats and drink coffee in Seoul. Korea, catting!)
5 CactusMcHarris November 17, 2012 at 1:12 am: #2,

It often was neither of those two, but a third – a leak in the floor. Oh, I need to read comment #3 I see.
6 DLBarch November 17, 2012 at 1:55 am: The best part of that old system was lighting the bongaetan.

Now THAT was really something.

Ah, good times!

DLB
7 CactusMcHarris November 17, 2012 at 2:17 am: #6,

I had forgotten that one, DLB – that was even more fun than gripping the old one to pull it out and putting in the new.
8 paulhewson November 17, 2012 at 8:17 am: #4,

My first cat in Korea was named “Ajumma” because it was one feisty, ill-tempered pussy. That was about fourteen years ago before I was married.

Presently, we have a cat named “Wasabi” which makes no sense because he is a beautiful white Turkish Angora with blue eyes. I think I came up with the name from a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2wugAI9RI0

The ending is the best.
9 Pyotr November 17, 2012 at 5:42 pm: What is that thing?
10 R. Elgin November 17, 2012 at 5:50 pm: It’s safe nuclear fuel “Pyotr”. The glass at the bottom contains another type of fuel that is less safe.
11 CactusMcHarris November 19, 2012 at 9:21 am: #8,

Spoken like an uxorious dude. I had forgotten that commercial and you’re right, marriage makes one appreciate the ending more. Wasabi sounds like a pretty cat. We’re down to five now – none are going to play with the abundant coyotes any time soon, I think.
12 CactusMcHarris November 19, 2012 at 9:54 am: Pyotr,

That’s a crushed coal formed into a briquette for the ondol furnace.

And there’s actually a special word for the warmest spot in the ondol-heated room, I just can’t remember it now.
13 Wedge November 19, 2012 at 11:15 am: That’s actually one of the unsafest fuels ever and has probably killed 100 times more people in just Korea than all of the world’s nuke plants put together. But I forgot, the lefty narrative says nukes are unsafe. My bad.
14 Yu Bum Suk November 19, 2012 at 11:47 am: My neighbours still use them.
15 KrZ November 19, 2012 at 4:13 pm: Here’s a safe fuel for nuclear power – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-based_nuclear_power

Not receiving nearly as much attention as it should. The Indians are investing heavily in Thorium, though.
16 Pyotr November 21, 2012 at 6:25 am: It’s safe nuclear fuel “Pyotr”. The glass at the bottom contains another type of fuel that is less safe.

Thanks, Elgin and CactusMcHarris.

I thought it must have been some kind of coal, but I just couldn’t work out what the holes and handle were for. I now imagine the hole are for faster burning and the handle is to keep one’s fingers clean.

Not much fun about the carbon monoxide without ventilation statistics, however, although it’s likely that the liquid fuel pictured below the briquette has been involved in far more deaths than any other power-generating or mining methods.
17 Pyotr November 21, 2012 at 6:25 am: It’s safe nuclear fuel “Pyotr”. The glass at the bottom contains another type of fuel that is less safe.

Thanks, Elgin and CactusMcHarris.

I thought it must have been some kind of coal, but I just couldn’t work out what the holes and handle were for. I now imagine the hole are for faster burning and the handle is to keep one’s fingers clean.

Not much fun about the carbon monoxide without ventilation statistics, however, although it’s likely that the liquid fuel pictured below the briquette has been involved in far more deaths than any other power-generating or mining methods.
18 palladin9479 November 26, 2012 at 1:57 pm: @15,

Look up MSR’s and LFTR’s, their Gen IV reactors that have conceptually been around since the 70′s. The US government actually ran a demo MSR for a few years to prove the technology. After it was shutdown the whole project was shelved due to the leftest fall out from TMI. MSR’s / LFTR’s are cleaner, safer and more efficient then current PWR/BRW’s by two magnitudes yet were not allowed to be developed / designed. We only started looking at them again because China, India and Japan have all caught up with the USA and are currently doing their own research into them.