Saturday, June 07, 2008

Get real.

TOKYO - The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.

The report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency envisions a "energy revolution" that would greatly reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining steady economic growth.
I've got news for the Paris-based IEA: It ain't gonna happen.

I work in the world of commercial nuclear power and will for the rest of my life (Retirement, what's that?).

It sucks. Nothing is easy, even the stuff that should be.

Finding and training qualified people to staff the World's current 443 plants is a struggle. Most of the experienced people are looking for a way to get out (just give us government Universal Healthcare and 10% will leave immediately). There is no way to safely build and run 1,843 reactors. Corners will have to be cut and qualifications relaxed.

I'd rather take my chances with global warming than the risk of almost 2,000 ticking-Chernobyl's all over the planet.

2 comments:

Dad29 said...

It would be easier to attract people to the field if:

1) It was clearer that job-security exists; and

2) The regulators were not such turkeys.

Headless Blogger said...

The job security is a recent change. Less than 10 years ago, my employer was doing everything in its power to get rid of people.

The regulators are what make the work tedious and boring, but without them, the number of people needed to run a plant would drop considerably.

I also believe that many people think these jobs require really specialized skills and qualifications. I think the employers are getting more realistic in their standards and will provide training after hiring to the right people.