Shifting+Sands+Seminar

Y ou need to discuss two of the listed topics. Click on the blue links for each discussion topic page to make your actual comments. DO NOT CREATE ANY DISCUSSIONS ON THIS PAGE. You can create new insights or reply to other comments to continue the discussion. **Discussions should be posted by 7:20 AM the day after a seminar!!!** I'm going to go Nuclear! Is nuclear energy the next best thing? Should we begin to focus on producing and building new reactors across the U.S. to supplement our power supplies and prepare for the coming end of oil? Things to Keep in Mind:

1. Typical reactors cost around $700-million to construct and banks and lending institutions have little interest in financing new plants. 2. Clean up costs of spills such as the minor leak at TMI have cost 1.2 billion so far. 3. No permanent underground facilities have been built yet for the storage of high-level radioactive wastes that need 10,000 to 240,000 years of storage. Yucca Mountain the only facility so far is estimated to cost 43 billion (by tax payers) and it may still never open due to safety concerns. 4. According to the EPA some 45,000 sites in the US may be contaminated by radioactive materials and may cost 230 billion to cleanup over the next 75 years. 5. Is it reasonable to accept nuclear energy for a US option but deny it to other countries such as Iran or North Korea? How do you police such an issue long term?

Distraction of old energy What is your reaction to this argument?

Focusing our country’s resources on protecting the oil supplies of the Middle East will distract us from the more important goal of developing new sources of energy and promoting conservation here at home and in other locations. Things to Keep in Mind: 1. Since 1973 54% of the DOE (department of energy) research and development funding has gone to nuclear power, 25% to fossil fuels, 21% to energy conservation and renewable options. 2. Breakdown of our commercial energy use. Oil 39%, Coal 22%, Natural Gas 23%, Nuclear 8%, Biomass 4% all other renewable 4%. 3. Most new technologies take 50 years to put into commercial use. Even if we start a switch and heavy investment today it will take some time before a substitute is widely available.

Proving the international community wrong? What is your reaction to this argument?

Focusing on our own access to Middle East oil only proves to the international community that the U.S. is not interested in collaborating to solve the region’s pressing problems. Things to keep in mind: 1. 64% of world’s crude oil in Middle East. Saudi Arabia with 26%, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, and United Arab Emigrates with about 9-10% each. 2. Remaining 36% of oil 7% Venezuela, 5% Mexico, Africa 7% Soviet Union 6%, China 3%, Europe 2%, US 2.3% 3. The US uses about 26% of world oil extracted each year and imports about 55% of our oil now. Current Domestic supplies would only last about 4 to 8 years. World supplies around 42-53 years.