[geeks] Global warming, was Mr Bill?

[Patrick Giagnocavo]

Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
> Sandwich Maker wrote:
>> another: given the half-lives involved, the effects from high-level
>> waste would persist for millions, if not tens or even hundreds of
>> millions of years.  global warming would not, and the geological record
>> shows that the planet has survived it before.
> 
> The vast majority of radioactive compounds currently being released into
> the atmosphere comes from burning coal for power.
> 

Right.

I think that people would be shocked if they could actually see the 100+
train cars of coal that come into a power plant, each day; and reflect
that the naturally-occurring trace elements of uranium etc. that are
present will be up in the atmosphere shortly.  And of course the diesel
used by the train that puts those cars there.

Contrast that with a single tractor trailer of stuff that rolls into the
equivalent sized (in terms of power) nuclear plant, every 18 months.

IMHO it is not a question of "if" we add more nuclear capacity, only of
when.

--Patrick