Re: OT Proven Alternative Energy

>> >>
>> >> You are aware are you not, that the newest generation of solar cells takes >> >> about 4 years to generate the power needed to make them?

Sounds about right - very long payback before the investment starts earning you benefits. Solar cell generation is still only truly practical for "Off Grid" uses, repeater sites on remote mountain tops and people living waaaaaaay out in the hinterlands, where the power lines don't even think about going.

You can cover the roof of an industrial building with solar cells, or plant large expanses of them on a swath of open land outside town, but it's more of a Feel Good "Green" gesture than huge savings.

> >If that is something that matters then how long does it take for a nuclear

power

> >plants to return the energy needed to make them? >> >> Id guess about 6 weeks. > >That's in the ballpark. Of course, it depends a lot on the details of >the plant construction. > >Typically, a nuclear plant involves a large concrete structure with >a lot of steel rebar. The "pour" for the steel would be a few weeks >run at a medium steel plant. The cement used would be a few >weeks output from a medium cement plant.

And once built, would stay essentially untouched for decades.

Darlington NGS, less than an hour drive to the east of Toronto, >puts out about 3600 MW of electricity. Typically it does this >24/7 with no variation for 18 months at a time. They get one >visit per month from the fuel truck. >Socks

Just a note - the 'one visit per month from the fuel truck' sounds suspiciously like they don't want to carry too much fissile material in any one truckload at any one time. So they spread it out to keep the shipments small.

Last I heard they only have to shut down Nuke Plants for refueling every 18 months to three years, depending.

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