US Senate confirms nomination of MIT physics prof Ernest Moniz for Energy secretary in a 97-0 vote

[Tx4obama]

Breaking Politics Verified account ?@breakingpol

US Senate confirms nomination of MIT physics prof Ernest Moniz for Energy secretary in a 97-0 vote - @politico http://bit.ly/107q2m8

https://twitter.com/breakingpol/status/335100210206351360

[Junkdrawer]

1. Ernest Moniz: Why We Still Need Nuclear Power

....

But the movement lost momentum in March, when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the massive tsunami it triggered devastated Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant. Three reactors were severely damaged, suffering at least partial fuel meltdowns and releasing radiation at a level only a few times less than Chernobyl. The event caused widespread public doubts about the safety of nuclear power to resurface. Germany announced an accelerated shutdown of its nuclear reactors, with broad public support, and Japan made a similar declaration, perhaps with less conviction. Their decisions were made easier thanks to the fact that electricity demand has flagged during the worldwide economic slowdown and the fact that global regulation to limit climate change seems less imminent now than it did a decade ago. In the United States, an already slow approach to new nuclear plants slowed even further in the face of an unanticipated abundance of natural gas.

It would be a mistake, however, to let Fukushima cause governments to abandon nuclear power and its benefits. Electricity generation emits more carbon dioxide in the United States than does transportation or industry, and nuclear power is the largest source of carbon-free electricity in the country. Nuclear power generation is also relatively cheap, costing less than two cents per kilowatt-hour for operations, maintenance, and fuel. Even after the Fukushima disaster, China, which accounts for about 40 percent of current nuclear power plant construction, and India, Russia, and South Korea, which together account for another 40 percent, show no signs of backing away from their pushes for nuclear power.

....

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136544/ernest-moniz/why-we-still-need-nuclear-power

Here We Go....

[napoleon_in_rags]

3. He seems to like the fracking too.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-22/energy-nominee-moniz-sees-fracking-as-bridge-to-renewables-.html

He calls it a "bridge technology" to renewables, but I haven't seen yet how he makes that connection.

[Junkdrawer]

4. Darkest before the dawn...Darkest before the dawn...Darkest before the dawn...

Is it possible to be darker that a perfect Black Body?

Looks like they're trying....

[Tikki]

5. Why, why, why why..we can have two, three + generations of nuclear cleanup workers push the waste..

around antiquated containment structures. And generations of physicists and engineers fight and argue
for decades and decades which of their special containment structures or grand scheme for nuclear waste disposal is the best.
All the while the hard working American taxpayer pays for this sh*t over and over and over again.
Often with their health..always with their money.


Tikki

[MADem]

13. Perhaps he is a fan of the type of nuclear power plant that consumes spent fuel?

I don't know...but that's supposedly the Next Big Thing in terms of that form of power generation.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/alternative-power-sources/nuclear-reactor-powered-spent-fuel-121109.htm

[Tikki]

15. The next big thing has been on the horizon for a very very long time...

Meanwhile we have no idea how to get rid of so much of the sh*t that is already here and has been here for a very long
time.
It is waste, a by-product of the nuclear industry...
Do you believe what is here is not dangerous"

Tikki

[MADem]

16. I realize it's been conceptualized for a half century, but lately people are talking about it as a

potential actuality and they are in fact running tests to determine feasibility, as we saw in that article I provided.

Did you even bother to read the link I offered? I don't think you did, based on your answer to me. Here, just read these two paragraphs:

A big selling point of this design is that it would help deal with the nuclear waste problem. The Nuclear Energy Institute says there are some 67,000 metric tons of uranium from fuel in the United States alone. It can also be built smaller at lower costs out of modular parts.

The WAMSR can do this because unlike current reactors, it doesn't need to use enriched uranium as fuel, and the fuel itself doubles as a coolant. No need to build this near a water source like an ocean or river that can ultimately flood and cause damage.

Now, go back to the link, and read the whole article. Learn that the by-product of this design will use up the waste products of the old, AND what remains from the new design is safe inside of three hundred years.

It's a very different paradigm. I don't know how well it will work, I am not a nuclear scientist, but I do think it shows a great deal of promise.

[Tikki]

18. What about the WASTE that is already here...as they move on to a new love interest...

don't forget what once was a sparkle in the industry's eyes.

Or should we pretend that they believed then, 60 years ago, that nothing could go wrong?

Go back and read my post...Do you believe that waste is not dangerous?
Tikki

[MADem]

19. Don't you understand--as the article notes--that the spent fuel, the 'waste that is already here'-

Last edited Thu May 16, 2013, 06:14 PM - Edit history (1)

will be used and consumed by these new plants? Isn't that "better" than creating new, highly radioactive waste?

The whole idea is to get RID of the WASTE that you are yelling about, and from it will be produced a byproduct that is only radioactive for three hundred years.

In time, I will wager they'll get that number lower still.

You plainly didn't read the article. I can't make you, but it explains the process. The waste will be made far less "dangerous" because it will be used to power these new plants.

Here's another article, describing these plants as "user friendly" and "idiot proof." Sounds like an improvement to me...

http://gizmodo.com/5990383/the-future-of-nuclear-power-runs-on-the-waste-of-our-nuclear-past

[Tikki]

20. When the leaking WASTE at Hanford is gone and no longer a threat we'll talk again.

Until then, people I love are at serious risk.


Tikki

[MADem]

21. So, you don't care about waste stored elsewhere--you just care about your relatives and not the rest

of the world's population? And because you're 'mad' about leaking waste at one site, you don't care about progress made towards getting rid of waste at ALL storage sites?

Yeah, that makes sense...not.

This new system shows promise of getting rid of all of that waste that must be stored for thousands of years. I hope it's viable and cheaper, and safer--because if it is, then we can get rid of all this crap we've got stashed here and there. The 'waste' material will become valuable, and people will take better care in storing it.

This is a massive win-win.

[Tikki]

22. I am no novice to this issue, I have read every article on every issue surrounding nuke I can...

get my hands on for over 40 years..
I grew up surrounded by it and fight to get the truth out there, always.

When your waste containment, conversion, waste pooferarator, whatever, becomes a reality you contact me here.
We'll talk.

I care about this earth and the people on it...especially the children who have no say-so in where they grow up
and the environment around them.
Because I grew up near Handford was my impetus, but not exclusive to my caring.

Again, when your magic happens..please let me know.


Tikki
child of the radiant glow

[MADem]

23. The magic is happening....at MIT, where this new cabinet official came from...

I think we'll see this in my lifetime, and I'm no spring chicken.
It's not "my" magic. It's the world's. I think this will be a wonderful solution to a messy problem. We're past due for advances in this area. We can't keep on as we're doing, and solar is just not "there" quite yet.

[DreamGypsy]

2. Good. He's got great hair...

and he's good at energy research, from MIT's Department of Physics:

ENERGY RESEARCH

Energy production and use are clearly crucial to the functioning of modern economies and to enhanced quality of life. However, they also drive major environmental problems. The prospect of global warming and climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion presents a particularly difficult challenge. Considerable science and technology development are needed, as well as policies that enable widespread and timely global deployment of key energy technologies.

Ernest Moniz, in collaboration with faculty colleagues across the Institute, is examining the linked technology and policy pathways to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale. Recent and current work focuses on nuclear power, photovoltaics, and coal utilization with carbon dioxide geological sequestration. In addition, evolution of the electricity transmission system is under study.

Apparently he is not currently active in other areas of theoretical physics, though he was director of the Bates Linear Acceleration in the 90's.

[RobertEarl]

6. Not even one Senator against?

In these days of looming environmental disasters, not one Senator stood up and said NO. ?!?!?!

The one simple mistake I read above in the new Sec's resume was the total lack of recognition that the number one energy source on this planet is:

The Sun.

We are so fucking doomed. The Moron Party is running the show.

[Junkdrawer]

7. I see a great boon in Rosetta Stone German software....

Get my broker on the phone....

[MineralMan]

8. When referring to The Moronic Party, please

use its proper name. They'll appreciate that, I'm sure. Maybe. Some of them refer to The Democratic Party as The Democrat Party, so maybe they don't know the difference.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022852883

[Junkdrawer]

9. And I woke this morning with hope in my heart...

http://climatecrocks.com/2013/05/15/no-more-coal-plants-in-germany/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022851887

[RobertEarl]

10. Hope? What is that? A town in NJ, right?

Wait... I remember hope... and change.

Of all the hippies (that have always been right) that Obama could choose to really guide a change in our energy destination, he has to go and pick someone who has a name that rhymes with money? And Moniz can't even the see the sun he is so blinded to making money.

Heh, I'd hate to hear what he says about the DOE's Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Probably wonders why we moved Indians there.

"Hanford, coming soon to a town near you. Free tickets for everyone."

[Junkdrawer]

11. "Nuclear Power is the solution to the Energy Crisis just as Caviar is the solution to world Hunger"

And Moniz says (link in Post #1):

...

Nuclear power generation is also relatively cheap, costing less than two cents per kilowatt-hour for operations, maintenance, and fuel.

....

Obviously, building and licensing the plants costs NOTHING.

And, as Energy Secretary, he's in a position to help get those pesky licensing costs down.

As I said above, Here We Go

[RobertEarl]

12. I suggest a field trip for starters

He should go work at maintaining the Fukushima disaster for a month.
He'll get to wear a full body protection system that will keep him from getting a sunburn while he is there.

And then he can go work at Hanford for his next fun filled primary educational experience... y'know like we do for 1st graders.

The bus is headed over the cliff and Obama has handed the wheel over to a blind person. 'Here We Go', is all too apt.

[Tx4obama]

17. Three GOPers did not vote: Blunt (R-MO) - Coburn (R-OK) - Moran (R-KS)

The votes: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00127

[Junkdrawer]

14. Good coverage from DemocracyNow

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/26/energy_nominee_ernest_moniz_criticized_for

[Logical]

24. +1 n-t