[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TreeFarmer', 'I') think you are drastically overstating the impact of the "30 year life." That 30 years was a number picked, well 30 years ago, but probably has little current meaning. These plants undergo constant maintenance, like all plants, and many parts of them are very new. Now, might some parts need to be replaced in the future? Of course, but I'm betting many of these plants will run for 60 years, not because they have to but because they are still safe to operate.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'P')retty much the same way 60 year old airplanes continue to fly.

[Ludi]

Texas citizens recently stopped construction of 8 coal plants. I wonder if they will prefer nuke plants in place of the coal plants? But I think only one new reactor is planned for Texas, possibly 2.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')The problem with aging plants isn't fuel -- spent rods can be replaced -- but embrittlement. Fissioning atoms throw off neutrons that gradually weaken the steel containment vessel. Retrofitting old plants to bring them up to today's safety standards rarely makes sense economically.

[mommy22]

Isn't Texas going to build a huge wind farm? And isn't T. Boone Pickens going to build a wind farm of huge proportions there?

[shortonoil]

cube said:$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'f')or all we know the genetically engineered apes could be running the planet by then!

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'C')oal plants are being canceled as a result of citizen concern for global warming.

[Twilight]

Nuclear power plant life can vary considerably. The Oil Drum: Nuclear Britain

As you can see, some Magnox lasted less than 30 years, but most lasted around 40. A couple ran for nearly half a century. It is very likely the AGRs will make it well past 30 years with life extensions, although their availability has been disappointing recently. But it is an academic issue, it just means the US has 20 years to act instead of the 10 years the UK has. It means nothing without a replacement programme.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'P')eople tend to forget we have 104 nuclear power reactors currently in operation and MOST of them are near the end of their "service life".

We need to build a hundred nuclear power reactors just to stay even.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'T')exas citizens recently stopped construction of 8 coal plants. I wonder if they will prefer nuke plants in place of the coal plants? But I think only one new reactor is planned for Texas, possibly 2.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'P')eople tend to forget we have 104 nuclear power reactors currently in operation and MOST of them are near the end of their "service life".

We need to build a hundred nuclear power reactors just to stay even.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'P')eople tend to forget we have 104 nuclear power reactors currently in operation and MOST of them are near the end of their "service life".

We need to build a hundred nuclear power reactors just to stay even.

[countrymomma]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is why I am a doomer. We depend on electricity for civilization--see Duncan's Olduvai Gorge theory. Everything that makes the country modern--security, computers, high technology, systems management, communication--depend on electricity and the grid is a piece of crap. Just look at the ugly crappy dangling wires hanging from old greasy wooden poles outside your office window. What's underground is probably just as ugly.

[dohboi]

Does anyone really think that in the recession we're in and the depression we're heading toward demand for electricity will be increasing? Soon, no one will be able to afford flat screen TVs nor the juice it takes to run them.

One thing in the article that most can get on board with is that the transmission system needs an overhaul. But we need to have an idea of what kind of system we are planning for both in terms of load and source.

The cost of new plants is becoming rapidly too expensive as prices for all materials continue to skyrocket.

monetary roadblocks to new nuclear plants

Mostly most of us will be learning to get by on a whole lot less electricity and on less reliable energy. Welcome to the PO world and the third world nation the US is rapidly becoming.

[shortonoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dohboi', 'M')ostly most of us will be learning to get by on a whole lot less electricity and on less reliable energy. Welcome to the PO world and the third world nation the US is rapidly becoming.

[burtonridr]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shortonoil', 'O')ur transition to an electrical society will take at least 40 years, in the mean time, pressure on demand will be going down as the economy retracts strongly.

[shortonoil]

burtonridr said:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his transition is assuming we have a means of keeping the current infrastructure intact.

By that I mean, trucks to transport people to service power lines, transformers, etc. Wire to repair lines that break during wind storms, new poles to replace ones that break, new parts and pieces to replace old worn out ones within the generators, etc...