Nuclear Power in NZ...?

[ZK-KAG]

Just wanted to float the idea seeing its in the news due to APEC.

~ZK-KAG~

[chopper_nut]

This country is clinging to an outdated idea. Pisses me off really, we dont get any American warships in port now!

[ZKTOM]

The hydrodams etc are just too boring Nuclear all the way.

[Alex]

I don't think so. Nuclear power is good, but any problem that we might have would be absolutely catastrophic to New Zealand. I think that the risk factor is too high.

Besides, we haven't run out of water, wind or sun yet.

Alex

[ZK-KAG]

QUOTE(Alex @ Sep 6 2007, 08:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think so. Nuclear power is good, but any problem that we might have would be absolutely catastrophic to New Zealand. I think that the risk factor is too high.

Besides, we haven't run out of water, wind or sun yet.

True that a Nuclear station meltdown is not a pretty thing, but hey its only happened twice in history both due to poor management... And yeah we havn't run out of natural resouces yet, but we dont have enough of them either... NZ needs more power and soon, real soon.

my 5c

[Alex]

I think thats like running a lawnmower next to a gas station and saying 'we can't keep this thing going much longer, there just isn't enough petrol around'. Of course we have enough resources, but are we using them as well as we could be? Nope.

A meltdown or other accident (don't forget about floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, storms, tidal waves etc) is rare, but there is also the issue of the nuclear waste - and its transport and storage. But if it happened, just imagine the consequences...

Alex

[ZK-KAG]

QUOTE(Alex @ Sep 6 2007, 09:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think thats like running a lawnmower next to a gas station and saying 'we can't keep this thing going much longer, there just isn't enough petrol around'. Of course we have enough resources, but are we using them as well as we could be? Nope.

Yeah fair point, but wind produces very little power for so much land and money...its costs a bomb to set up a decent sized wind-farm. As for hydro-power the majority of the New Zealand public themselves will prevent any decent projects in the future. Just look at Project Aqua for example...

[Alex]

But given the choice of having a wind farm or hydro dam, or a nuclear power plant next door, which will they choose I wonder?

Alex

[jastheace]

we have run out of natural resources, we are not allowed to use the water, it causes to much environmental damage to the rivers, can't use wind, it pollutes the landscape and kills birds and creates to much noise, and solar, only works half the day, and i can imagine the resource consent complaints over a solar farm!! trouble is everyone wants clean, reliable cheap power, but no one wants it near them, or to destroy their visual view etc. its a lose/lose situation until someones steps up and say hat would you rather have hydro/wind/solar power, or stuck in the dark, unable to watch your dvds and dry your clothes, and change the bloody resource consent, to many good things are stopped because someone doesn't like it!! sorry to vent, i fell better now, just my $2 worth

[ZK-KAG]

A man after my own heart Jastheace! haha. Stick the Nuclear Plant out in the middle of the waikato where maybe 10 people will be affected...

[creator2003]

nah i say no , there are other ways around even having that kind of danger in our NZ ,as for the war ships i dont miss what ive never seen in nz waters and some that have been here look pretty mean anyway ...

[Alex]

QUOTE(ZK-KAG @ Sep 6 2007, 09:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A man after my own heart Jastheace! haha. Stick the Nuclear Plant out in the middle of the waikato where maybe 10 people will be affected...

You think the Waikato region will go down without a fight? No matter where you want to put it, people will get up in arms; "Its some of the most fertile land in New Zealand ... vital to agricultural sector..." etc. Plus you have Hamilton just down the road....

Alex

[jastheace]

QUOTE(ZK-KAG @ Sep 11 2007, 09:11 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A man after my own heart Jastheace! haha. Stick the Nuclear Plant out in the middle of the waikato where maybe 10 people will be affected...

Haha, might have some glowing milk though!!!!

[ZK-KAG]

QUOTE(Alex @ Sep 6 2007, 09:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You think the Waikato region will go down without a fight? No matter where you want to put it, people will get up in arms; "Its some of the most fertile land in New Zealand ... vital to agricultural sector..." etc. Plus you have Hamilton just down the road....

ALex

Yeah I realise that there will be uproar...hell we cant even get powerlines into auckland...

A nuclear power plant will not affect any agriculture...Australia has one just outside Sydney, where humans live.

I realise that Nuclear has its drawbacks, but its a whole lot cleaner than coal/gas. And produces a c**p load of power for a "small" plant.

[Alex]

Yea, that is true. Well, I suppose they won't care what I think if someone's determined enough to get one built.

Alex

[jastheace]

mark my words, it will NEVER happen in New Zealand, ever, hell they won't build a world class racing circuit at hampton downs, so there is no chance it would ever happen, it should happen, 1 plant could set NZ up for a very lo time, with minimal carbon output

[Naki]

QUOTE(jastheace @ Sep 6 2007, 09:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

mark my words, it will NEVER happen in New Zealand, ever, hell they won't build a world class racing circuit at hampton downs, so there is no chance it would ever happen, it should happen, 1 plant could set NZ up for a very lo time, with minimal carbon output

What do you mean they are building Hamton Downs right now - as for nuclear power - doubt it will happen here there are enough resource consent issues getting a wind farm, hydro power approved let alone nuclear.

[flynz]

I say we build an island out in the middle of the sea and put a nuclear plant on it! that way we dont have to worry about as many people getting angry and it would be a really strange thing to do!

[Zöltuger]

QUOTE(Alex @ Sep 6 2007, 09:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You think the Waikato region will go down without a fight? No matter where you want to put it, people will get up in arms; "Its some of the most fertile land in New Zealand ... vital to agricultural sector..." etc. Plus you have Hamilton just down the road....

Alex

And hence the reason why we're running low on power in the first place.
Let's build a Hydro dam! No, can't do that, will spoil the environment.
Let's build a Nuclear power plant! No, can't do that, it might explode.
Let's build a wind farm! No, can't do that, it might scare the horses and spoil the view.
Let's build a coal station! No, can't do that, it's too polluting.
Let's build a wave power station! No, can't do that, too expensive, risky and unproven.
Let's build a s... No
Let's b... No

And yet these same people will complain when the lights go out. Face it, nobody is going to be building any power plants any time soon, regardless of what powers it.

[pois0n]

QUOTE(ZK-KAG @ Sep 6 2007, 09:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I realise that Nuclear has its drawbacks, but its a whole lot cleaner than coal/gas. And produces a c**p load of power for a "small" plant.

It does produce alot of power, but a standard size plant produces 30 tonnes of high level waste per year and 300,000 tonnes of medium level waste. What happends to this? It has to go somewhere, and nobody wants it near them. The difference between NZ and AU/US is that they have vast desert areas to store their nuclear waste in underground facilities. Then what happends with it? It's left for the next generation to sort out, much like the whole global warming cr@p that the previous generation has left us with. The storage just adds another expense to the already economic nightmare of nuclear power in NZ.

If a meltdown did occour in NZ then most of the country would go tumbling down with it. Say goodbye to NZs dairy/meat exports. Western Europe lucked out in a big way with the Chernobyl disaster, if it had blown toward western europe instead of it mostly landing in Belarus the cost of that disaster would've been immense.

The same could be albeit on a smaller scale if a meltdown occoured at the Lucas Heights facility in Sydney. Weather patterns means large portion of radiation in the atmosphere would blow towards NZ, not fun!

Australia has a bit of an ulterior motive for pushing nuclear power so much, with the economic boom lead by the mineral extraction and large deposits of uranium

As for not letting US warships into NZ, if an accident were to occour on one within NZ waters then the fishing industry would be practically killed and depending on where it was or what happend there would have to be evacuations.

Then if you work past all that, where do you put the power station? We don't have any areas that are a significant distance from a large populace, unless you want to slap a nuclear power plant at the foot of Mount Cook and ruin the tourism industry too



It's all very much a moot point for New Zealand