Nuclear reactors - Atomic Energy of Canada Limited vs Areva?

Question

From a Canadian perspective, why would it be beneficial to use nuclear reactors from AECL versus Areva?

Answer 1

Disagree with your fist responder. Hydrogen doesn't have enough bang. I would agree to it if you could build a fusion reactor that runs on hydrogen. That would be a true solution: Loads of power, no waste.



To answer your question directly, I would buy the reactor that puts the most Canadians to work!

Answer 2

Atomic reactors create the most lethal form of industrial waste ever invented by humans. Atomic reactors should be outlawed in every nation in the world!



Nuclear waste from reactors has HALF LIVES of hundreds of thousands of years, and even the lab coats and gloves of the workers becomes contaminated nuclear waste!



We need HYDROGEN, made from water, but hydrogen power has been used by home-owners and farmers for over 25 years, so it would eliminate electric power plants and those huge power lines because homeowners would make their own electricity to make the hydrogen, eliminate gasoline stations because homeowners would make their own vehicle fuel, and The Establishment does not want the human race being independent of the consumer enslavement we are now being prostitutes to.

Answer 3

There's no "standard nuclear reactor", but if we take a 1 GW nuclear plant, it can generate about 8 terawatt-hours/year. A 200 watt solar panel can generate about 1 kilowatt- hour/day, or 365 kwh/year, so that's about 21 million 200 watt solar panels. However, the power output from the nuclear plant is controllable by the operators, where solar panels only operate at full output for a few hours/day (on clear days - less if there's cloud). Therefore, to compare the two, you have to factor in some kind of energy storage or backup which will increase the cost of the solar installation (perhaps by a factor of two or more). Despite claims of solar being cheaper than coal now, when one compares apples to apples (i. e. total energy produced, and controllability) solar is still several times more expensive than coal, and about twice as expensive as nuclear even in the U. S. A gram of U-235 can make usable energy equal to three metric tons of coal. Solar energy production has no hazardous by-products, but manufacture of the panels can involve some very hazardous materials like fluorine (for silicon panels) or cadmium (for CdTe panels). This is part of the reason panel manufacture has gone to Asia - they have fewer environmental regulations and it's easier to dispose of the byproducts of production. DK