[permaculture-oceania] Being informed about the 'Nuclear Debate'

[Champagne]

Spot on Colin,

The energy debate is finally here on a national scale and our challenge 
as permies is meaningful contribution.An interesting push is happening 
here in the Bega Valley.

An Orthopedic Surgeon Dr Matthew Nott discovered climate change on New 
Years day when patrolling as a life guard on Tathra beach, it was so hot 
it was hard to walk on the sand. This got him thinking so he read Tim 
Flannerys ' The Weather Makers' and that got him fired up. He called a 
public meeting in Bega that got about 200 people along. Not the usual 
crowd as he drew in the more conservative element within the community 
and gave a scientific run down on how bad its all looking.

He then managed to get 3000 people onto the beach at Tathra one Saturday 
to spell out a human sign ' Clean Energy For Eternity'. Hired a light 
plane to fly over and the pictures went out to newspapers and TV news 
shows. 3000 people represents a tenth of our Shire population which is 
an amazing critical mass. This weekend he is off to Jindabyne lake to 
swim across it in winter with a media trail to record it.

 He is on a steep learning curve and at the moment and just wants to 
flick a switch and move to renewable energies. Never mind the 2x 4-Wheel 
drives he owns, the swimming pool and holiday vacation to Fiji for the 
family coming up. Its easy to be critical of his lifestyle however he 
has touched a nerve in our community that has moved people a long way 
and better to support his push. If I had held that talk in Bega, the 
same old crowd would have turned up but Matthew is well respected to a 
broader range of folk.

As David Holmgren mentions in his book, it does not matter if change 
happens in the name of permaculture as long as it happens and sometimes 
we just have to let go our holistic vision and let others take the lead 
and pick the eyes out of it. Bit by bit, the parts of the permaculture 
picture are being accepted as solutions but I think the hardest part for 
people to accept is personal responsibility as a consumer. Its virtually 
an attack on the capitalist system but as we saw the Berlin Wall open up 
and communism collapse, its only a straw thats needed to break the 
camels back.

Yes Colin, be prepared and have your facts solid as we have nearly 30 
years of testament that by joining the parts, we can create a permaculture.

Kind Regards
John Champagne
Mumbulla Bioregion




Colin Endean wrote:

> Here's a link to a good 12 page summary of Nuclear Power, costs and  
> understanding the issues.
> "Why Nuclear Power Cannot be a Major Energy Source" http:// 
> www.feasta.org/documents/energy/nuclear_power.pdf
> Here's some snippets (paraphrased).
> If all the available uranium ore, of sufficient concentration (high  
> grade ore of around 0.01- 0.1%) were used to generate all the worlds  
> electricity, it would last around 6 years.
> Energy (mostly fossil fuel derived) is used in most of the processes  
> to mine, mill, enriching ore, transport, building very complex and  
> technically demanding (to be 'safe') reactors, managing and storing  
> wastes and decommissioning.
> This amounts to about on third of the greenhouse gas emissions of a  
> gas fired power station producing the same amount of electricity.
> In the lifecycle analysis, we also have to deal with 25 years of  
> backlog of wastes yet to be stored adequately and all of the old  
> reactors to be decommissioned and dismantled.
> So, in considering the future expansion, Nuclear Power starts with a  
> big debt to repay (which means energy to be consumed in the process  
> of achieving the necessary standards and safety)
> If that necessary work (clearing up wastes and decommissioning) were  
> to be undertaken and the energy deducted from total amount produced,  
> there would be only the equivalent of 3 years of worlds electricity  
> to be produced from remaining uranium supplies.
>
> Even more detailed evaluation and research about Nuclear Power
> "Nuclear Power: the Energy Balance"  by Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen  
> and Philip Smith at the website:
> http://www.stormsmith.nl/
>
> I say bring on the Nuclear Debate!
> Prepare and know your evidence well.
>
> Cheers
> Colin
>
> On 31/05/2006, at 12:40 AM, Mike Morris wrote:
>
>> Gordon, Sue wrote:
>>
>>> Can I ask a single question.  With the amount of money it costs to  
>>> set up a nuclear power plant  ... (I don't know how many millions  
>>> it would cost)  How much renewable energy would that buy  
>>> instead...that is if we bought solar panels or wind turbines
>>
>>
>> Much neglected:  Please add the cost to DEcommission and dispose of  
>> (or otherwise "make safe") a nuclear reactor at the end of its  
>> engineering lifespan (around 45 years, as far as I recall) - that  
>> cost is usually as much or even more (inflation adjusted) as the  
>> cost of building it in the first place.
>>
>> -- 
>> mike morris        :: mike.morris (at) cocosoft . co . za
>> cOcO technologies  ::   www . coco-technologies . co . za
>>
>> http://www.openseed.org/farm/
>> http://mikro2nd.wikispaces.com/
>> http://braindump.coco.co.za/blojsom/blog/mike/
>>
>> ----- A day without chillies is a day wasted ------
>>
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