Re: [Marxism] On Nuclear Power: France and Germany

[David Walters <dave.walters@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The privatization of Aveva has to be stopped, just like the moves to 
privatize Airbus and other vital industries in France and Germany. But 
the article's idea that nuclear power is 'doomed' is just idle 
propaganda from the anti-nuclear (and pro-carbon) interests from people 
who really don't know what's going on or have a clue about uranium 
supplies. I have to admit, though, this article is better than anything 
I've read from ignorant fools like Harvey Wasserman at Counterpunch.

Nuclear energy is expanding with little opposition, it seems. One has to 
ask why?

The reason is because even with radical restructuring of the kind 
Joaquin suggested a few months ago, and this goes to answer John 
O'Brian's response to my point of view, the only answer is nuclear and 
it's a far less dangerous form of generation than coal, which is 50% of 
our, and Germany's, energy source. Coal is simply off most Green agendas 
(not all, but most), and it seems in action favoring it's continued use 
since they have no plan to replace base-load coal fired plants with 
anything. Coal is killing now and the Greens *simply do not give a 
shit*. Shane Mage raised the point of "aeolian electricity" (I've never 
actually seen anyone use "aeolian" in a sentence before!) but it won't 
cut it, since it can't provide base load power. It can't provide the 
minimum needed to keep the grid on line, as Denmark showed a few times 
last year. For every single MW of wind, you need some form of on demand 
power to back it up (coal, gas, nuclear or hydro) because it's so 
unreliable.

This is why I harp on nuclear, because it's the safest and easiest 
alternative to coal. Even with all the plants to build 100 more plants 
around the world over the next 10 years, the 'resources' devoted to this 
amount is about 8 months of waste we spend fighting over *fossil* in 
Iraq. I don't see many wars fighting over uranium resources. I see 
hundreds of thousands dying ever year for fossil fuel supplies. Coal 
miners by the hundreds die every  year. Hundreds of thousands from 
respiratory illness, etc. Yet, in the US, not ONE person dead because of 
nuclear energy. Besides, Shane, since you raised it, far more money is 
going to be spent on coal than nuclear for this same period. This is why 
I think many of you are not asking the right questions and you have 
blinders on. Shane,  the costs in resources, on a plant-by-plant basis, 
are almost the same anyway for coal and nuclear.

I wonder why people think the 'waste' (in quotes because it's only waste 
if you want to throw it away instead of recycling it) is so dangerous? 
Do people understand that the ENTIRE volume of the US commercial fleet  
for the *last 50 years* of dangerous waste wouldn't even fill up the 
floor of a Costco store? People have such a *religious* faith that this 
stuff is just ready to be sprinkled all over  the population, buried in 
land fills, made into children's playground equipment. One needs to 
break out of this line of thought and really investigate it. Oh, wait, 
that's right, a billion tons of coal ash a year, laced with mercury, 
uranium, and other heavy metals IS spread around the US...because no one 
gives a shit.  A real and present danger and all Greenpeace and other 
Greens care about is what might happen, in 10,000 years, maybe, sort of.

I'm for public power. I was fortunate enough to be involved in one of 
the only fights for public power in the US in the last 20 years. We 
almost won as well.  We lost by 500 votes out of a total of 250,000 
cast. But public power, socializing our energy network, is not going to 
do squat unless we employ all means, and right now, to cut down on coal use.

I will say, though, that I will post things on nuclear, generally, that 
I've written and that reflect my point of view, not just constant 
reprints from lobbyists or one sort or another (this is not aimed at 
most of you, only one person in particular who has a hard time 
articulating their own point of view).

David

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