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mey999
26-Jan-13, 20:55
What do the people of Caithness think building a New Nuclear Power Station, to replace the old one. Could it revitalise Caithness or the opposite:confused

mi16
26-Jan-13, 21:08
Would make the county boom again.It will not happen now though, eck missed the boat and signed the counties death warrant by not lobbying for a new reactor at Dounreay.

mey999
26-Jan-13, 21:27
It could the infrastructure is still there just waiting to the used again.

Rheghead
26-Jan-13, 22:27
A new reactor was never an option at Dounreay, wishful thinking or a pipedream.

ducati
26-Jan-13, 23:20
It could the infrastructure is still there just waiting to the used again.

It's mostly in a skip isn't it? :eek:

Phill
26-Jan-13, 23:59
It's mostly in a skip isn't it? :eek:
You know as well as I what can be knocked together in a garden shed or spare bedroom for nuclear fish n stuff.... or whatever. Infrastructure is just a gimmick!

Seriously: The site, the capability and the infrastructure is there or readily & easily replaced. Properly managed without sweeping things under the carpet, in a longterm and sustainable way it could well be a very green and secure energy solution. (and a massive economic benefit)

I'm sure I've rambled on about this before: electrify and build new electrified rail networks powered by nuclear energy. Shift all haulage and goods transport over to rail.
Improve passenger connections and reduce air travel. More electric trams in cities (not on the Edinburgh model though).
Overall result is reduce Co2 emmissions etc. (greenhouse gasses). UK wide economic boost. UK energy security.

And stop building these sodding stupid windymill farms!

secrets in symmetry
27-Jan-13, 00:04
Where are you going to grow all the uranium you need Phill? In Portgower?

focusRS
27-Jan-13, 00:07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hahn Get the Boy Scouts on the case. I'm going to start hoarding smoke detectors.

Rheghead
27-Jan-13, 00:17
UK energy security.

So if nuclear is a finite energy source and you want to build in Caithness another reactor which is well away from the centres of demand that need it, don't you think that carrying all that energy over those great distances will make it less effective?

A genuine question but I'm just regurgitating the same silly question as posed by anti-wind, except that nuke is a finite energy source and shouldn't be wasted.

secrets in symmetry
27-Jan-13, 00:28
So if nuclear is a finite energy source and you want to build in Caithness another reactor which is well away from the centres of demand that need it, don't you think that carrying all that energy over those great distances will make it less effective?

A genuine question but I'm just regurgitating the same silly question as posed by anti-wind, except that nuke is a finite energy source and shouldn't be wasted.Rheghead, you clearly haven't understood that high quality nuclear generated electricity doesn't get lost in transmission, unlike that cheap and nasty low quality wind generated leccy that's being foisted on Caithness by foreign tree huggers. :cool:

Alrock
27-Jan-13, 02:15
You know as well as I what can be knocked together in a garden shed or spare bedroom for nuclear fish n stuff.... or whatever. Infrastructure is just a gimmick!.....

The one thing I learnt during my time at Dounreay is that if you have enough Black (Dounreay) Tape (Gaffer Tape to the layman), you can knock anything together....

Phill
27-Jan-13, 13:06
Where are you going to grow all the uranium you need Phill? In Portgower?Apparently there is a huge mine full of the stuff there, just no one is brave enough to go and get it.


So if nuclear is a finite energy source and you want to build in Caithness another reactor which is well away from the centres of demand that need it, don't you think that carrying all that energy over those great distances will make it less effective?There's no demand for power in the Highlands, Orkney? Electrickery needs to be transported from A to B no matter what the generation source, moot point don't you think.


The one thing I learnt during my time at Dounreay is that if you have enough Black (Dounreay) Tape (Gaffer Tape to the layman), you can knock anything together....Aahhh Gaffer tape. Nothing it can't fix.

billmoseley
27-Jan-13, 18:03
Aahhh Gaffer tape. Nothing it can't fix.[/QUOTE] i think my favorite thing for fixing stuff is baler twine there was nothing on the farm that couldn't be fixed with a good bit of twine

oldchemist
27-Jan-13, 18:07
Black tape was the invention of the 20th century. We should build a reactor up here. On calm days you could use the electricity to drive the windmills.

Alrock
27-Jan-13, 18:32
Black tape was the invention of the 20th century.....

Check out this website.... http://www.ducttapeguys.com/

secrets in symmetry
29-Jan-13, 10:38
Can you build a windfarm with duck tape?

mi16
29-Jan-13, 12:27
Can you build a windfarm with duck tape?

That would be quackers!!

midgemagnet
29-Jan-13, 13:16
I'd love to say yes its a great idea as it would have a huge impact on the local economy...but its not going to happen anytime soon.

The electrical infrastructure needed to make this work is enormous...the Dounreay reactors were experimental "tiddlers" to prove a concept (which they did). A commercial nuclear power station like an EPR planned for Hinkley (x2 units) will put out 2800 MWe (or over x11 times PFR and x200 times what DFR generated)....and even if the infrastructure were upgraded the transmission losses to where most of the power is needed is significant. If you were selecting a site in Scotland for a commercial nuclear power station it would be much nearer populated areas and on or near an existing site in the central belt.

On top of that the politics would need to be overcome and sheer scale of the investment needed (many billions), long lead time, uncertain business case...really...its not going to happen in Caithness.