It's getting too hot to safely operate nuclear power plants which, other not-insignificant problems aside, are the plants you want to have operating because they don't emit greenhouses gasses, thereby creating more global warming. EEI is reporting that:
Heat Affects Operations of Some U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Units
The heat wave has had a significant impact on nuclear power generating facilities across the U.S., the NRC reported. AEP's Cook Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 was shut down due to the heat wave, Reuters reported, while both units of Xcel Energy's Prairie Island nuclear power station were pushed back to 46 percent of capacity. Xcel Energy's Monticello nuclear power plant was moved to 67 percent of capacity while Southern Co.'s Hatch nuclear power station Unit 1 moved to 43-percent capacity. DTE's Fermi nuclear power station lost feed water, and shut down. At Cook, operating room temperatures "not the reactor temperature - exceeded limits due to the hot weather outside the plant, the hot lake temperatures and a partial blockage of the ventilation system," according to Reuters.
Reuters (Prairie Island) , Reuters (AEP Cook) , Reuters (Monticello) , Reuters (Hatch) , Reuters (Fermi) , July 31.
We need a national energy policy and we need it now. It needs to focus on an immediate reduction in the use of electricity and oil so that we stop emitting carbon into the atmosphere. The hotter it gets, the more people are going to use electricity to try to cool off. And, the hotter it gets, the more our options for what kind of energy to generate will shrink. No nukes due to heat and no hyrdro due to drought = coal, oil, natural gas, some wind, and some solar. The price of natural gas is skyrocketing and wind and solar can't make up the difference, at least not yet. Conservation -- serious conservation of all non-essential uses of electricity and oil -- could make a huge difference and buy us at least a little bit of breathing time. Where's the country's leadership on this????????
No comments:
Post a Comment