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Japan has very few natural energy resources which is the main reason they embraced nuclear power in a big way. Otherwise, they would have to import many more to

by timtadh 13y ago

Japan has very few natural energy resources which is the main reason they embraced nuclear power in a big way. Otherwise, they would have to import many more tons of hydrocarbons.

legitsource 13y ago
I would rather live next door to a nuclear plant in an earthquake and tsunami that to live next door to a coal plant during the same catastrophe. The ash is more radioactive than most nuclear waste is and there's a whole lot more of it to contain.
- pessimizer 13y ago
  >The ash is more radioactive than most nuclear waste is and there's a whole lot more of it to contain. The question is if it's safer to be next to a nuclear meltdown or a burning coal plant, not whether portions of the waste of both plants during normal operations are more or less radioactive than each other.
  - legitsource 13y ago
    It's not a burning coal plant that's the problem. A tsunami would spread the ash from the coal plant everywhere. Heavy metals from the ash would be a lot more hazardous in the short term than the radiation unless you were standing on top of the reactor.
timr 13y ago
"Japan has very few natural energy resources" Except that the place is covered in geothermal hotspots. I don't know if any are sufficiently large to reduce the need for nuclear, but Japan is a country where the greatest natural energy resource appears (to an outsider) to be dedicated to providing really nice baths.
- jofer 13y ago
  Actually, it's not as covered as you might think. Japan's relatively cold (in geothermal terms) due to its tectonic position. (It's counter-intuitive, but forearcs have relatively low geothermal gradients for such tectonically active areas.) The main areas of geothermal potential are localized around the volcanic arc. Most of this land is inside of national parks. Compare this to areas like Iceland or most of the African rift, where you have a very high regional geothermal gradient. Anywhere you can find deep permeability, you'll have potential for geothermal power generation. Japan certainly has a lot of geothermal potential, and hasn't utilized most of it yet, but it's not as simple as it seems at first glance.

by timtadh 13y ago

Japan has very few natural energy resources which is the main reason they embraced nuclear power in a big way. Otherwise, they would have to import many more tons of hydrocarbons.

legitsource 13y ago

I would rather live next door to a nuclear plant in an earthquake and tsunami that to live next door to a coal plant during the same catastrophe. The ash is more radioactive than most nuclear waste is and there's a whole lot more of it to contain.

pessimizer 13y ago
>The ash is more radioactive than most nuclear waste is and there's a whole lot more of it to contain. The question is if it's safer to be next to a nuclear meltdown or a burning coal plant, not whether portions of the waste of both plants during normal operations are more or less radioactive than each other.
- legitsource 13y ago
  It's not a burning coal plant that's the problem. A tsunami would spread the ash from the coal plant everywhere. Heavy metals from the ash would be a lot more hazardous in the short term than the radiation unless you were standing on top of the reactor.

timr 13y ago

"Japan has very few natural energy resources" Except that the place is covered in geothermal hotspots. I don't know if any are sufficiently large to reduce the need for nuclear, but Japan is a country where the greatest natural energy resource appears (to an outsider) to be dedicated to providing really nice baths.

jofer 13y ago
Actually, it's not as covered as you might think. Japan's relatively cold (in geothermal terms) due to its tectonic position. (It's counter-intuitive, but forearcs have relatively low geothermal gradients for such tectonically active areas.) The main areas of geothermal potential are localized around the volcanic arc. Most of this land is inside of national parks. Compare this to areas like Iceland or most of the African rift, where you have a very high regional geothermal gradient. Anywhere you can find deep permeability, you'll have potential for geothermal power generation. Japan certainly has a lot of geothermal potential, and hasn't utilized most of it yet, but it's not as simple as it seems at first glance.