Comments,
questions, suggestions?
Send us your feedback by emailing lab-notes@coe.berkeley.edu.
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Novel Nuclear Reactor (Batteries Included)
I'm not the public, but I do think we need large amounts of
low-priced electricity. Nuclear would be choice if it can
provide safety, and resolve the spent fuel problem. I think
it is important to define the cost of electricity (FOB reactor),
and would hope for $0.02 or less per KW hr.
Electricity should replace oil in transportation and buildings.
PEM fuel cells seems to be the best approach. Local "gas"
stations could hydrolyze water throughout the country. Since
water is in short supply in much of the country, including
the East Coast this year, a fuel system design should be "closed,"
in the sense that the vehicle collects exhaust water and returns
it to the "gas" station for recycling into hydrogen & oxygen.
Both should be bottled, and inserted into vehicles needing
refueling.
While costs are considerably different than in the petroleum
industry, a hydrogen economy has the advantage of minimizing
the cost of environmental impacts. However, none of this can
work unless large amounts of low-cost electricity are available.
The ENHS reactor design appears to offer a good solution for
U.S. needs, and should be incorporated into a proposed system
engineering approach to our energy processes. If it is indeed
safer, installations could be closer to load centers (e.g.,
cities) than at present, thus reducing transmission costs.
I suspect that it can be buried underground for protection from terrorist action.
— Darrell Duane
I read the Novel Nuclear Reactor article and was very impressed.
I think nuclear power is a more responsible form of energy
then the traditional burning of fossil fuels. Hopefully this
reactor will prove to be as ideal as the article mentions.
Imagine...nuclear cars!
— Brian Cavagnolo
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If
You Can See This, You're Too Close
That is a good idea.
BMW has a project for car's red light, which burns stronger
or weeker depending of the way the driver touches the break-pedal.
Than the light burns very light or weaker.
By the way it would be very helpful if normal cars also could
have additional flashing lights at the very top of the car
to show the direction they want to go. But such lights are
not welcomed by all car-disigners, therefore I think that
they are not available. Anyhow Volvo station wagons have their
direction flash-lights quite high on the back of their cars.
— Christian Glaser
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Updated 11/1/02.
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