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I am very much for nuclear power. Especially the new generation of generators (with that said as someone pointed out there is problems with mining the fuel). Bu

by olodus 6y ago

I am very much for nuclear power. Especially the new generation of generators (with that said as someone pointed out there is problems with mining the fuel). But even with that said, that doesn't mean I would automatically be for putting it on a ship. One of the first thing I would say about nuclear power plants is to out them in places with a stable environment (maybe not places with earthquakes or huge storms) and putting it on a moving ship is kinda spitting in the face of that. I mean I might be wrong, havent looked very deep into marine nuclear but it feels scary when thinking of how often ship disasters happen. I think convincing people of nuclear on land is a large enough endeavor.

JorgeGT 6y ago
The US Navy has safely operated hundreds of marine nuclear reactors for 70+ years without any major issue. The technology is there if we actually wanted to stop polluting the planet.
- ghaff 6y ago
  The crew, maintenance, processes (including security) of US Navy subs is at a vastly different level from a typical merchant ship.
  - JorgeGT 6y ago
    I agree with the concern about crew qualification, but maybe at least convert the worst offenders? The Guardian said [1] that "just 15 of the world's biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as all the world's 760m cars". Why not convert those 15-20 biggest ships to nuclear (with a UN or IAEA compliment aboard if you want)? I believe this could be a huge win for the environment achievably today with mature technology.
    - rightbyte 6y ago
      Why would you trust cost cutting shippers with nuclear reactors? Install catalysators instead.
    - philipkglass 6y ago
      That was a story from 2009, and it was referring specifically to sulfur dioxide rather than all air pollution: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping... The high SO2 pollution was because heavy fuel oil used in oceanic shipping could have a very high sulfur content, up to 4.5%. The global limit has been lowered to 0.5% this year. In designated Sulfur Emission Control Areas the limit has been lowered to 0.1% since 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_Control_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_Control_Area The sulfur dioxide emissions from shipping have been slashed since that Guardian article was written. Other air pollution from shipping was not greater than that from cars in the first place.

by olodus 6y ago

JorgeGT 6y ago

The US Navy has safely operated hundreds of marine nuclear reactors for 70+ years without any major issue. The technology is there if we actually wanted to stop polluting the planet.

ghaff 6y ago
The crew, maintenance, processes (including security) of US Navy subs is at a vastly different level from a typical merchant ship.
- JorgeGT 6y ago
  I agree with the concern about crew qualification, but maybe at least convert the worst offenders? The Guardian said [1] that "just 15 of the world's biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as all the world's 760m cars". Why not convert those 15-20 biggest ships to nuclear (with a UN or IAEA compliment aboard if you want)? I believe this could be a huge win for the environment achievably today with mature technology.
  - rightbyte 6y ago
    Why would you trust cost cutting shippers with nuclear reactors? Install catalysators instead.
  - philipkglass 6y ago
    That was a story from 2009, and it was referring specifically to sulfur dioxide rather than all air pollution: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping... The high SO2 pollution was because heavy fuel oil used in oceanic shipping could have a very high sulfur content, up to 4.5%. The global limit has been lowered to 0.5% this year. In designated Sulfur Emission Control Areas the limit has been lowered to 0.1% since 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_Control_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_Control_Area The sulfur dioxide emissions from shipping have been slashed since that Guardian article was written. Other air pollution from shipping was not greater than that from cars in the first place.