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Local Notes
My Nuke
I’m by no means an expert on nuclear power plants and their safety. But I
live about 9 miles from one. From my third floor you can see the lights
and roof of the containment dome. So if this one melts, I ‘m toast. If
it blows up, I probably won’t hear the noise….
Doesn’t phase me a bit. My number is much more likely to come up from something other than a nuke.
I am bothered by the sirens. They test them every couple of
months. All the dogs go crazy for 10 minutes. The birds just leave. Most
kids under 5 start crying. It’s a noise you can’t escape. Other than
the sirens there have been some plans to evacuate folks like me. The
local joke is this sign:
When Indian Point blows up we’re supposed to go to this location and
wait for a bus. Like some poor bus driver will really show up when the
radiation is falling. It’s not a joke, but it is a joke.
Indian Point is 24 miles north of NYC, right at sea level on the Hudson
River. It was built in 1962. The original reactor has been
decommissioned. In 1974 IP 2&3 were brought on line. The
water-cooled reactors are pushing 40 years old. Indian Point is one mile
from a fault-line. The facility was designed to withstand an earthquake
of 6.1 (5.1 is estimated to be the highest).
You tell me. What’s so different between Indian Point and those in Japan that are now melting down?
A coalition of people have been trying to shut IP down for as long as I
can remember. In 2008 I thought it would happen. Governor Elliot Spitzer
and the County Exec, Andy Spano, publicly promised that the operating
license for IP would not be renewed. But Spitzer got caught with his
pants down and Spano got cremated in an election. So nothing happened
with IP. Some recent developments:
•
On January 7, 2010, NRC inspectors reported that an estimated 600,000
gallons of mildly radioactive steam was intentionally vented after an
automatic shutdown of Unit 2. The levels of tritium in the steam were
below those allowable by NRC safety standards.•
On November 7, 2010, an explosion occurred in the main transformer for
Indian Point 2. The accident is still being investigated.
My bet? Indian Point will be closed in less than a year.
One thing about this? IP (when it's running) provides 30% of
Westchester/NYC power needs. Electric rates have nowhere to go but up. Big time.
Potholes
I was driving around this weekend. Unbelievable how bad the roads are.
I’ve not seen them like this before. The tough winter is the culprit.
The potholes are just exploding now that it is warm and wet.
I was cruising on the elevated section of the Bruckner Expressway. This
road alternates between being a parking lot and a racetrack, depending
on traffic. I was travelling at 60 doing my best to dodge potholes when I
fell into a big one. Sidewall blowout. And I’m on a four-lane highway
in the South Bronx, wearing a suit. So I swerve off the road and join
the other losers who have busted tires.
In my stupid car you can’t replace one tire. Apparently the slightly
different road-wear eats up the transmission. So I just got two new
tires. Big bucks. I checked with my guy. The same tires are up 30% in
price in just the past year. They are going up 3-5 % a month of late:
Yokahama Tire ^ 8% 4/1/2011
Michelin ^ 12% 3/1/2011
Hanook ^ 9% 3/5/2011
Cooper ^ 12% 2/6/2011
Bridgestone ^ 12% 3/1/2011
We’re going to get it both ways on this. In the years to
come our roads will be deteriorating. Every budget, from the smallest
town to the Federal government, will be cutting back on maintenance. We
will blow out more tires as a result. The price of those tires is rising
about 15 times faster than the CPI. But actually this will not show up
in the CPI that Bernanke is looking at. The end result will be that we
will all be a bit poorer. And we will continue to follow a misguided
monetary policy. We can’t eat an IPod. And it won’t work as a spare.
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nope
Could it be because the French realize that the good life is in the details?
Potholes -- it's depressing that in France for instance ("for goodness sake") the roads are essentially perfect.
(The freeways -- which are all privately owned, libertarian style -- are 98% flawless, like billiard tables; you might get one small crack, say, every say 200 or 300 miles. And the general government roads are basically all A+, A or A- at worst.)
How come France has better roads than the Usa?
What's the basic reason?
You have never driven in Gers obviously . Also roads are poorly lit through out the country and radar is everywhere . Also you fail to mention the price to drive on the highways which is extremely high .
France gets 80% of its power (the cheapest in Europe) from nuclear plants, peut-etre? Frees up lots of exchange capital for road repairs.
Could it be that France is being unwittingly subsidised by Germany?
France is smaller
one reason might be that France doesn't have an absurdly expensive military
Or that gas costs $8/gallon, so few can afford to drive.
Bruce, electric deregulation has guaranteed that prices have nowhere to go but UP. There is absolutely no incentive to build any new central station plants given the pricing model (LMP) that prints money when demand is high. There is no free lunch. Shut down the nukes and then ramp us gas and coal. Period. There are no magic bullets, no secret stash of wind/solar/water power lurking in the background. TPTB WANT the nukes offline so they can sit back and collect 20+ cents per kilowatthour and higher whilst not investing one red cent in new plants.
+1, and with the NIMBY crowd to intervene if a new plant gets close to being approved. And the current Administration's "energy policy" to boot. e.g.: (but this is well documented)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ55UzAsp6M&playnext=1&list=PL2666DD36D85...
- Ned
Yes, Bruce, go to the bus stop as directed. That's how 30K people were evacuated overnight from there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prypiat_%28city%29
http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/112889B2-E48B-4926-B1ED-D89A6B4317...
and that wasn't some slow-leaking modern japanese facility... that was a real meltdown.
and if the pothole doesn't get your tires the ladder, board or chair jettisoned by a flatbed will.
Has anyone else wondered why so many reactors were built near fault lines?
The GE Fukushima reators were tested to 7.9 Richter scale
Oh well
It wasn't the earthquake that damaged the reactors, it was the tsunami. The reactors scramed the moment the earthquake started, and the coolant pumps were working. But then the tsunami hit the site, damaging both the primary and backup cooling.
You just have to learn how to drive with them. It means being more alert and driving with far more care than Americans are used to. They'll blow a few tires, but ole Ben the Bernank is right, people will learn to slow down and save money, thereby keeping CPI down.
Next question....
My wife & I own a small biz about 10 miles from Indian Point. We hear those damn sirens. And I've had to reconcile myself to the fact that if it goes up (quake, terror attack, whatever) and I'm at work, I'm coming home glowing brightly. We get the mailers detailing the evacuation plans and so forth and their big advice is to stay indoors and wait for the authorities to come help (or signal the all-clear). Uhhh...sure.
Of course, if one tries to get out of the area one will end up in gridlock on the Thruway or the Taconic Parkway. Probably better to just stay at the office and fry in peace. Although I *do* have Sirius satellite in the car, so as I died I could listen to Kudlow talk about how this event would be good for the economy. That would be a great comfort, no doubt...
VIVA, baby! -- Sager
Bruce,
IP was an issue long time ago when I lived up river from you. Do I think it is unsafe? No. Is it a risk? Yes.
The bottom line is that nuclear is greener than the other alternatives when you consider them as entire processes from end to end delivering the same amount of power over time. The idea that we will generate our power needs from wind, solar, biomass (all of them less green) are based on hope for major technology breakthroughs that would make them feasible. Don't wait for the bus if the sirens go off. Have more than one planned "off the beaten path" evacuation route and a ready to go evacuation pack
Worked as a volunteer on a citywide infrastructure analysis 25 years ago. The points you raise are the ones used to justify the changes and tax increases back then. Everything recommended was enacted - if you ask a Fortune 50 CEO to lead the effort, it helps a lot. Only problem, the current crop of politicians can't agree on how to make cuts, so they are "cooking the books and kicking the can down the road" so it will be easier to defer infrastructure maintenance - again.
barliman
+++ this
We are now extra screwed due to peak oil, unless aliens bail us out with some magic energy tech.
Tritium is a "Beta" decay and that means an electron. It is an energy range that does not penetrate the outer layer of the skin. If you don't drink it or eat it, it is probably less dangerous than that last sunburn that you got at the beach.
Actually, alpha particles are the ones that don't penetrate the outer layer of dead skin cells. Beta decays (like from tritium) are medium danger. Gamma rays are dangerous because they are hard to stop, and alpha is very dangerous when it hits living tissue. Fission products release mostly beta, some gamma.
True, that extra neutron decays into a proton and an electron (with maybe a little electron antineutrino to carry off any extra energy. The real problem is chemically its like hydrogen (one proton) so get incorporated into H2O with is about 70% of the human body. And water can be readily absorbed through the skin among other mechanisms.
On the positive side (no proton pun intended), the decay does result in helium and there's quite a potential helium shortage in the future. So, go tritium! Don't know if you can tell if you've ingested it from a higher voice or feeling "light headed"? HA HA
I'm ok then, I do not eat or drink any products containing water.
Seriously though, as per wikipedia, "HTO has a short Biological half-life in the human body of seven to 14 days, which both reduces the total effects of single-incident ingestion and precludes long-term bioaccumulation of HTO from the environment."
You must be careful about dihydrogen oxide. It's everywhere--in our food, our water, our baby formula. And corporations are using it right and left.
http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html
Here in Missouri it's coal, baby, but rest assured our potholes can compete with anybody's.
My town never saw the big rise in housing prices, so we dodn't have as far to fall, but it seems the problems with credit and employment had no trouble finding us. Our tent city is growing fast.
When you can't tell shit from shine hole you fish for minnows...good fishing...it is healthy for the heart beat...before the next tsunami.
falak, you're probably too young to know about Shinola. - Ned
Fantastic article... sad to say I needed some tires as well in January. I got sticker shock at Les Schwab and decided to settle for a pair of Wal Mart specials.
People don't realize how undervalued used cars are right now. The replacement cost is something like 10x or 20x the price. You get a 1990 Honda with some good tires for under $2000, you're practically getting paid to take it home.
while this is perhaps true, our administration - in it's infinite wisdom - decided to run the Cash fo Clunkers program, effectively removing a very large portion of the used car fleet from the market. You know, the cars that are ideal for folks on limited income because they are inexpensive to buy and, if you shop carefully, can gets miles and miles of use out of with little more than routine maintenence.
while this is perhaps true, our administration - in it's infinite wisdom - decided to run the Cash fo Clunkers program, effectively removing a very large portion of the used car fleet from the market
Thanks, Big O!
If these old plants go offline, utitilies may become more expensive than many mortgages or rents. Potholes are never filled or fixed properly.
So, Ipads need APs to also become magic carpets and heating pads.
Didja know that home computers, iPads (disposable or not), iWhatevers and the rest of the panoply of home Internet, etc., related gadgets including the clouds, information processing centers, stacks of servers and whatever else they're called are now the single largest source of demand for electricity in the country?
Used to be the home refrigerator years ago.
So eventually, it'll become too expensive to have people like me taking the time to add such useless drivel to the cultural value of the human condition.
But, you can use your iPod to find the lowest prices around!
There's an app for that.
Cha-ching!
Money spent is money saved.
Hasn't someone written an app which uses the accelerometers to map out and chart fracking !@#&%potholes! Might be a useful link for the Tomtom.
A pothole incident twitter?!
Swerve NOW.
That last picture is a shovel ready job if ever there was one.
Of course we have to factor in the white hard hat leaning on a shovel watching the other 4.
Nice photo for sure.
Potholes are everywhere as counties are only in "patchwork" mode these days.
There's never enough time or money to do it right, but there's always time and money enough to do it over.
Don't worry Bruce, the fish in your potholes may be small, but they are much healthier than anything you pull out of the Hudson.
drive slowly on solid rubber knobby tires.
http://covert2.wordpress.com