Energy
Pilgrim Is Closing. So Then What Happens To The Radioactive Waste? | WBUR News
This week, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will power down for the last time.
Over the next few years, workers will move the radioactive fuel into storage, dismantle the plant, and clean up the site. The process is called decommissioning, and a lot of people are worried about safety, cost and where the nuclear waste will finally end up.
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The biggest source of radioactivity at Pilgrim is the plant's fuel assemblies, which power the reactor. Entergy, the company that owns Pilgrim, says there are 580 fuel assemblies currently in the reactor, and another 2,378 used assemblies cooling off in the blue water of the plant's spent fuel pool. That's in addition to 1,156 stored outside the plant in huge containers.
All together, there are 4,114 fuel assemblies at Pilgrim. They’ll stay radioactive for thousands of years. And with nowh
NPR
Decades of research by scientists at Exxon accurately predicted how much global warming would occur from burning fossil fuels, according to a new study in the journal Science.
The findings clash with an enormously successful campaign that Exxon spearheaded and funded for more than 30 years which cast doubt on human-driven climate change and the science underpinning it. That narrative helped delay federal and international action on climate change, even as the impacts of climate change worsened.
Over the last few years, journalists and researchers revealed that Exxon did in-house research that showed it knew that human-caused climate change is real. The new study looked at Exxon's research and compared it to the warming that has actually happened.
I was reading the latest silliness about the gas stove ban that isn’t
I was reading the latest silliness about the gas stove ban that isn’t
There are very legitimate concerns about gas stoves with their open flames burning in enclosed locations. While natural gas and propane burn quite clean, they are fossil fuels and they still produce nitrogen dioxide which can trigger asthma attacks and cause health impacts. Also, with the more and more natural gas coming from fracking, often in radioactive formations, there is a risk of bringing radon into one’s home.
Years ago, with drafty old homes this was not such a problem. But more houses are often much tighter, so you have greater risk of having both radon and nitrogen oxides in your house. While heat exchangers do help bring in outside air, depending on the system, there may not be very good airflow in and out of every kitchen. Plus more and more people use air conditioning, which doesn’t allow as much airflow as open screen windows do.
Plus, now is the time to decarbonize our economy. A single gas stove doesn’t produce much carbon dioxide, but if there are millions of homes that heat with gas, a little bit adds up. And more significantly — at least in colder locations, gas stoves are a natural combination with gas-fired heating. Natural gas heating is a significant source of both gas consumption and carbon emissions — which is why carbon emissions spike in northern United States every winter. Plus, not only does natural gas produce carbon, but natural gas lines are inherently leaky, and natural gas is a powerful warming agent.
Inductance cooking has many of the same benefits of gas stoves but is much less polluting. It can be used in most locations that gas cooking has been used in the past, and has a fraction of the carbon output. Any place that has 230 volt electricity, can easily accommodate such stoves. And for off-grid and remote locations, the amount of propane gas used in conventional gas stoves is pretty de minis compared to all the propane currently used to heat and cook food in millions of urban and suburban households and businesses.
U.S. Carbon Emissions Grew in 2022, Even As Renewables Surpassed Coal – The New York Times
Emissions ticked up 1.3 percent even as renewable energy surpassed coal power nationwide for the first time in over six decades, with wind, solar and hydropower generating 22 percent of the country’s electricity compared with 20 percent from coal. Growth in natural gas power generation also compensated for coal’s decline.
I was reading about how much many homeowners spend on utilities …
I was reading about how much many homeowners spend on utilities … ⚡🔌💰
Apparently $200 or $300 a month isn’t that much money to spend on heat and electricity, even in lower cost states compared to New York. Some hobby farms with shops and farm equipment spend $500 or even more a month on electricity and natural gas. That sure seems like a lot of money to be burning up each month in non-renewable resources that are both impoverishing you and the planet.
It’s probably not that much money in the grand scheme of things – I would have more spare cash if wasn’t saving or investing so much right now – but I sure know I don’t have that kind of pocket change hanging around these days. I groan when my electric and gas bill pushes $100 come the frigid cold winter, when I have to turn up the heat to keep warm and the pipes from freezing.
When I own land, I can’t imagine having a big fancy home that requires so much energy to support it. A single room, small cabin takes a lot less energy to heat and light. Wood can be used as a primary heat source, small-scale solar can provide lighting and small-scale charging. While I doubt there is any practical way to avoid purchasing and consuming bulk propane for cooking and making hot water, those instant-on hot water heaters can be quite thrifty for bathing and wasting dishes.
Abandoned Coal Facts
There are 215,430 acres or 337 square miles of abandoned coal mines in Pennsylvania.
92,231 acres are dry strip mine, 6,710 acres are strip mine filled with water. 86,317 acres are coal mining refuse, 722 acres of it is currently burning. Underground coal fires burn on an additional 2,609 acres.
Data Source: Abandoned Mine Land Inventory Polygons, 2019 – Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. http://www.pasda.psu.edu/uci/DataSummary.aspx?dataset=459
