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[Doc Durian]

How's your blood sugar, mate? Those cookies and milk kicking in yet?

[MVPlaya]

You can repeat that 5 more times and its still just as unfunny as the first time. You really shouldn't read into my vocabulary to measure my mood, my language is always coarse. If I sound polite, I'm trying hard to be polite.

By the way, how are those evil oil conglomerates doing these days? Still trying to force environmentalism down our throats?

[Doc Durian]

You don't like cookies and milk? What? Do I need to bake them in a solar oven and find a fart free organic cow? lol

Come now... just a couple of cookies and cold pint of milk and you'll feel so much more rational... guaranteed.

[IndiReloaded]

Yeah, the problem is that the impact of nuclear energy is dramatic and easier to see, so people cling to that. The silent deaths of 100,000 people from cancer isn't as easy to pinpoint as one single nuclear catastrophe. But Chernobyl plus 3 Mile, and all the nuclear accidents of the past 50 years haven't done as much damage as a single year of carbon power.

I think green energy advocates will all eventually understand the importance of uranium or thorium-based power. (Personally a big fan of thorium power.)

I do think there are problems in nuclear waste disposal. Sending nuclear waste by train to Mt. Yucca is a recipe for eventual disaster, train collisions / accidents happen all the time, but even that disaster won't, on a risk/magnitude level, rival what goes on today.

So, properly regulated, I can stomach nuclear power.

The politicians have to be convinced to put sufficient money into the programs, MVP, instead of 'just enough to fail'. Canada is in the news recently about 200+ workers being needlessly exposed to alpha radiation from one of the Ontario reactors. But the problem is, as always, insufficient funding and out of control 'management'. AECL became a top-heavy mess of people more concerned with CYA than doing the job properly. Those who did buck the system were quickly fired. Read about what happened to Linda Keen when she blew the whistle. The GoC fired her. For doing her job.

I'm in no way in favour of closing reactors that are being properly maintained, but I think she made the right call under the circumstances. She did her job, which was to make the hard call, and she got crapped on for basically pointing out to Canada and the rest of the world, that the government isn't making good decisions regarding our nuclear program.

[Mish]

Usually, the guys I know who are best with women are completely incapable of noticing when they screw up, and, therefore, never feel embarassed or self-conscious, they are ignorant and it works out great for them.

This reminded me of that quote from the Matrix "Ignorance is bliss". It's true on so many levels.

[Doc Durian]

The politicians have to be convinced to put sufficient money into the programs, MVP, instead of 'just enough to fail'. Canada is in the news recently about 200+ workers being needlessly exposed to alpha radiation from one of the Ontario reactors. But the problem is, as always, insufficient funding and out of control 'management'. AECL became a top-heavy mess of people more concerned with CYA than doing the job properly. Those who did buck the system were quickly fired. Read about what happened to Linda Keen when she blew the whistle. The GoC fired her. For doing her job.

I'm in no way in favour of closing reactors that are being properly maintained, but I think she made the right call under the circumstances. She did her job, which was to make the hard call, and she got crapped on for basically pointing out to Canada and the rest of the world, that the government isn't making good decisions regarding our nuclear program.

Governments seldom do make good decisions and when they do, the next government can undue it or let it fall apart... and then there's nature. Who here is thankful that Concepcion didn't have a nuclear reactors, or Haiti?

We could jettison the spent stuffs off to space but who wants to risk a rocket failure on that one?

[MVPlaya]

Doc, bit of social advice: if the joke is unfunny the first three times, there's no point repeating it a fourth.

The politicians have to be convinced to put sufficient money into the programs, MVP, instead of 'just enough to fail'. Canada is in the news recently about 200+ workers being needlessly exposed to alpha radiation from one of the Ontario reactors. But the problem is, as always, insufficient funding and out of control 'management'. AECL became a top-heavy mess of people more concerned with CYA than doing the job properly. Those who did buck the system were quickly fired. Read about what happened to Linda Keen when she blew the whistle. The GoC fired her. For doing her job.

I'm in no way in favour of closing reactors that are being properly maintained, but I think she made the right call under the circumstances. She did her job, which was to make the hard call, and she got crapped on for basically pointing out to Canada and the rest of the world, that the government isn't making good decisions regarding our nuclear program.

I'll look into that, thanks for bringing it into my attention. And yeah, governments always take so many shortcuts on nuclear energy that it blows my mind. Whats wrong with spending an extra $10 million to ensure protocols are properly observed? I swear, its like people try to find that edge where they spend the least money and don't have industrial accidents, and to find that edge, they keep digging until they have an industrial accident. Its idiotic. My main objection to nuclear power is usually what you just wrote, idiots more interested in CYA than proper safety - regulators who allow shortcuts around regulations, and plant workers who then take shortcuts around the regulators' shortcuts. I swear, they should just jail people for that shit. No ****ing around.

By the way, you should look into Thorium-power. Its much safer. ([url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LeM-Dyuk6g]Thorium Remix 2009 is a good intro.[/url])

[Doc Durian]

Whatever, MVPlaya.

[MVPlaya]

I didn't want to argue with you, Doc. It was clear to me from the start you had nothing to contribute. I just wanted to rip you up in front of everyone. And all these childish retorts and smiley faces. Just icing on the cake for anyone watching. Thank you, for playing your role so well.

[Doc Durian]

Whatever, MVPlaya.

Whatever you reckon, Rocket Scientist.

[MVPlaya]

You don't have to try so hard to pretend you don't care.

[Doc Durian]

Let's see...

hmm... just as I suspected.. care factor, zero.

Yep, definitely zero.

But I do so enjoy watching you make an arse of yourself though.

very entertaining.

[MVPlaya]

Its funny. You can't argue back at me, but your ego is punctured so hard that you desperately want some type of "last word." Some small consolation prize? I'll let you have it. Every dog deserves a bone to chew on.

[Doc Durian]

I insist you have the last word, actually.

It's fun watching you pot kettle black and rack up the post count with the smallest of prods.

That's how the Climate Change Posse works....insist that they're right and attempt to silence/character assassinate any dissenters by screaming louder and getting the last word in the press, MVPlayed.

[IndiReloaded]

By the way, you should look into Thorium-power. Its much safer.

I've heard of it. Its not a new technology, they built a reactor for this back in the 50s. Its interesting how much old tech is actually getting revisited lately. I had mentioned Stirling engines earlier in the thread, which looks like will be able to decrease the cost of electricity by about a factor of 2!!

Canada hasn't been too keen to follow thorium use up b/c we are promoting our own CANDU reactor technology, which doesn't require enriched uranium. But I read that AECL is looking into whether they can also use thorium, which would help marketing as a multi-fuel unit. I think there's an agreement with China about this.

On a less serious note, we used to play with the thorium camp lantern mantles and a geiger counter. Most campers don't know they are radioactive. Same for smoke alarms.