Illinois may be phasing out its nuclear plants

The Natural gas price drops and the growth of peaker plants in Illinois combined with a massive investment in windmills has made the state with the most nuclear to begin phasing out some of the older plants. For those that argued wind was not making a difference......I am seeing new wind going up in farm fields everywhere......little environmental damage, compatible with farming, slower blade speeds with much larger windmills means less bird kill, and with the peaker plants when the wind is not blowing, you fire up the peaker plants........I personally would like to see the new generation of nuclear, but renewable wind energy is growing in Illinois and Texas.....across the country.

2seaoat wrote:......I personally would like to see the new generation of nuclear.....across the country.

Apparently, so would Congress:

Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4084/text

Also:

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)
http://www.energy.gov/ne/nuclear-reactor-technologies/small-modular-nuclear-reactors

Westinghouse has a prototype. It has a 60 year design life; small enough to ship by either barge or truck. One can power 85K homes; designed to last 60 years, and is refueled every 2 years.



Beryllium-uranium fuel research shows promise
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-Beryllium-uranium_fuel_research_shows_promise-0402118.html

The hybrid fuel is a mixture of uranium oxide and beryllium oxide, and maximizes the thermal conductivity of beryllium to make the heat generated by the uranium more useful. 30% less uranium is used in a fuel rod, which makes a reactor nearly immune to a melt-down.

Compact Fusion
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/compact-fusion.html

The holy grail of nuclear energy... We'll have a commercial fusion reactor prototype before 2030. This will revolutionize the energy industry and be a world game-changer.

I am not one who buys into the climate-change hysteria that pulls at many folks. I do, however, recognize a pressing need to develop alternatives to fossil fuels, because there is not enough oil or coal left in the ground to meet the world's long-term energy needs. The future of energy is an electric one. The lithium battery is going to be the new 'gasoline' as we 'refuel' our batteries with electricity. The electricity will come from, decreasingly, fossil fuel sources,  and increasingly, solar sources, other renewable sources, and advanced nuclear initiatives. The fusion reactor will one day lead to technology that allows us to advance from rocket-powered, low Earth-orbit spaceflight to true interplanetary space travel (and perhaps warp speeds one day in the future).

The Nuclear power workers were in Springfield in mass last week lobbying for subsidy to keep nuclear. I would rather the state be the first in the nation to invest in new nuclear technology as wind and NG have all but replaced coal, but utilization of the current sites by a new generation of nuclear seems to be the ticket, but to simply give subsidy to keep old nuclear plants open is not the smart path. It all started at the university of chicago under the fieldhouse, and to shutter the nations leading state in nuclear is not wise in my opinion.....increase the investment, but public traded companies have been pouring money into wind and cheap peaker plants......a few years ago Mr. Markle laughed at wind.