We’ll be all set without having to poke a single new hole into mama earth.

64%?

Down from a high of 70% last month?

What happened?

Some of them low information voters actually read up a tad maybe?

alphie on August 11, 2008 at 3:47 PM

Nah, the price of crude fell, and thus the one at the pump, for many days in a row now…dollar value going up drastically in the last few days…hopefully we’re not settling into après Carter complacency, again…

Three out of five support using Pelosi as a fuel rod.

whitetop on August 11, 2008 at 2:37 PM

Her personality is more suited to being an inanimate carbon rod.

tarpon on August 11, 2008 at 4:42 PM

I did an industry inspection at Turkey Point once back in the 90s. Something we did to share experience and expand the group knowledge base. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that reprocessing thing. After all the gumm’nt is involved. I don’t have a good feel for how cost effective it would be. It was never an issue so we didn’t pay much attention to it. Once upon a time we were going to start using fuel that was enriched with surplus plutonium from the weapons stockpile. This would have effectively eliminated it as a potential terrorist source. The government was going to give it to the industry gratis all we had to do was stick it in an assembly. It was too much of a political hot potato and never became a reality for us. I think Duke Energy tried it and had some problems but don’t know how it turned out.

Reprocessing — You are right, it’s a executive order against reprocessing and reusing spent fuel. It started with Ford and was issued in the Carter Administration at about the time frame of the Three Mile Island accident. So Bush could rescind that as well … Would be a good move to start reprocessing up in the USA. Looks like work in progress already http://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22542.pdf — It looks like it was part of the 2005 energy bill.

highhopes on August 11, 2008 at 4:04 PM

It’s hard to say how people will react but $4 a gallon gas was a wakeup call for everybody. Besides if it helps fishing and provides oil I think people will get used to it.

tarpon on August 11, 2008 at 4:04 PM

It’s harder to get much safer than this.

Bear in mind that the picture is from a DOE site. The last sentence about only being a temporary measure is just government trying to remain relevant. Those casks will sit there for a thousand years if necessary. Their footprint is tiny and they require almost no maintenance. In some cases they’re outside the protected area of the plant.

I don’t think there’s a law against reprocessing. I think it’s a presidential executive order suspending it. In any case it would be beneficial but not necessary.

Which plant is close to you?

tarpon on August 11, 2008 at 3:59 PM

I’d say the Gulf states, particularly here in Louisiana “gets it.” I’m just wondering how it will play off the Virginia/NC coast for example.

Yucca mountain will have no effect on starting new nuke units. The industry has already compensated.

Oldnuke, mostly true about the compensated part. But there is an increasing need for nuclear waste storage that is safer than at the plants. The scare tactic of the left that there is no place to put the nuclear waste is a sure way to gen up fear.

We could try our hand at reprocessing, but wait for it, there is a law against that — How clever are we. Even France reprocesses and reuses their nuclear fuel.

And about all those high paying jobs all this USA energy renaissance would create, wouldn’t that be grand.

I live at the Jersey Shore. I’ll take cheap gas and oil rigs over the tourists & casinos any day. The oil rigs are cleaner and less polluting too.

bloviator on August 11, 2008 at 3:35 PM

And don’t insist on wandering the shore with pasty white skin stuffed into a halter-top three sizes too small! ;-0

I wonder how much of that 64% lives along the coast and how many of those are actually NIMBYs who are all in favor of offshore drilling until it comes to “their” coast.

highhopes on August 11, 2008 at 2:58 PM

I live on the gulf, welcome the fish attractors. I lived in Mississippi a long time ago, used to fish the rigs when we went out. Big sport is fishing the deep water rigs for tuna at the Mississippi River outlet. We had a straight shot right out of Gulfport.

BTW: There are two nuclear reactors just up the road, about 75 miles as the crow flies from my house. They have plans on the table for two additional nuclear generating units at the same location.

Instead, we have Sen Reid saying he is going to shut down nuclear power by blocking Yucca Mountain start up.
tarpon on August 11, 2008 at 3:50 PM

Yucca mountain will have no effect on starting new nuke units. The industry has already compensated.

If the Repubs don’t do something about this soon, watch Obama grab the issue right from under their nose, to the far lefties’ chagrin and revolt, but who cares about them?

Entelechy on August 11, 2008 at 3:04 PM

That’s exactly right. This energy issue is to McCain’s campaign like manna fallen from heaven. And he’s putzing around with it like it’ll drive itself and run forever. But dollar to a donut says Team Obama’s hard at work figuring out how to pre-empt the issue for their candidate, along the lines you suggest.

McCain better seize this issue fast, and use it to polarize folks on the economy, before Obama has time to weasel out of the corner he’s in regarding energy.

McCain is winning the energy debate (however Obama is counter attacking with the big oil smear) And with this Russian Invasion he can start to win the Foreign Policy debate.

William Amos on August 11, 2008 at 2:33 PM

You really think so? Aggressive diplomacy hasn’t worked out too well so far.

The NRC has applications for ten (10) reactors in initial stages of a new licensing process that gives fewer opportunities for frivolous law suits to delay new reactors. See http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactor-licensing.html

The only remaining legislative roadblock is the need to have a solution in places for high-level radioactive waste.

Harry Reid has and will obstruct Yucca Mountain at every opportunity. JUst vote out the Democrats and store the high-level waste at Dingy Harry’s house until Yucca Mountain is open for storage.

Drill here, drill now, more beer money for me.

Pebble Bed reactors are likely safer and provide better disposal scenarios.

http://pebblebedreactor.blogspot.com/2007/01/mit-drives-much-pebble-bed-reactor.html

http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA365756

Recently, Westinghouse reported a key milestone in its sale of four new nuclear power reactors in China today as its partner, Shaw, and Shandong Nuclear Power Company broke ground on the first unit at Haiyang.

The pre-construction milestone comes ten days after a ceremony to mark the readiness of a factory specifically designed for nuclear power plant component modules. Shandong Nuclear Power Construction Group built the facility, which has the capacity to support the construction of two AP1000s each year, in just 11 months.

What does the assembly line do for you … Many things. It improves quality, reduces construction times, and improves safety having critical parts built at a fixed location with the same experienced crews. In short, it is a big winner.

Instead, we have Sen Reid saying he is going to shut down nuclear power by blocking Yucca Mountain start up.

But — That’s why China is doing it. Meanwhile, we are told to watch Larry King.

Down from a high of 70% last month?

What happened?

Some of them low information voters actually read up a tad maybe?