Wednesday 16 March 2011

A grim list

'Officially' there are 442 nuclear plants in service. Another 65 are under construction. So where are they all? Or at least the ones we know about. Some of the locations will surprise you. According to the IAEA's own figures 20%, that is at least 88 of them, are situated in areas of seismic activity.

Curious fact: The tiny country of Belgium has 7. Did you know that? And if you did have you ever wondered why this is so? And how it was achieved?

Curious fact: Spain, a land blessed with continuous sunshine and also winds from Africa and the Atlantic has 8. Again, you may wonder.

Curious fact: Slovenia has only one. It is situated on a seismic fault line. Why?

USA - 104
France - 58
Japan - 54
Russia - 32
S. Korea - 21
India - 20
UK - 19
Canada - 18
Germany - 17
Ukraine - 15
China - 13
Sweden - 10
Spain - 8
Belgium - 7
Czech - 6
Taiwan - 6
Switzerland - 5
Finland - 4
Hungary - 4
Slovakia - 4
Argentina - 2
Brazil - 2
Bulgaria - 2
Mexico - 2
Pakistan - 2
Rumania - 2
S. Africa - 2
Armenia - 1
Holland - 1
Slovenia - 1

7 comments:

  1. Grim long list, Gwilym...Nuclear energy was seen as a potential solution to energy crisis...India says it uses natural uranium as opposed to the hazardous enriched uranium elsewhere --

    they talk of building earthquake resistant structures -- there's no country to surpass Japan in those designs perhaps -- that's what we are told...yet,

    renewable clean energy sources are much in focus -- a 20% hike in budgetary allocation -- may be in line with EU -- there's a much needed pacing down, if renewable sources be viable...industry and commerce most often are not willing for that --

    wishes,
    devika

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  2. Devika -
    I think some pacing down might be a good idea. The world seems in runaway mode - a loose horse out of control. Pacing down would enable us to gather our thoughts and work out some Earth friendly priorities. For example, could we manage to live without such holy grails as the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix Motor Racing circus thundering by on its never ending world tour?

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  3. I hesitate to say I told you so (I was an Aldermaston marcher) but I despair.

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  4. Pat,
    What I despair about is that I have to watch a Russian TV channel to find out the truth. But I'm fortunate I can receive it. After first 2 days of good investigative reporting it was suddenly all change and soft-pedalling at the Beeb, That's the power of the nuclear energy lobby for you. Keep watching this blog!

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  5. The world and the human mind are perhaps much alike, Gwilym -- and yes, perhaps like a galloping horse...and can't come to rest.

    But as regards renewable sources, there's definitely a change of approach...possibly will gain more significance in future,

    i am no fan of Formula-1 or other races -- not even horse races -- but that doesn't change a thing for world which finds entertainment there,

    wishes,
    devika

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  6. Devika,
    I mentioned Formula 1 as it is a good example of the kind of mentality that means we will soon need the equivalent of nearly 3 planets worth of resources. Consider the cost in resources to just race a few cars around tracks from Tokyo to Bahrain to Monte Carlo to Las Vegas and so on, not to mention the noise and the pollution, - we could maybe boycott the whole business by refusing to watch it on TV and refusing to buy the sponsor's products which are in themselves so often highly dubious - cigarettes, sugar loaded energy drinks in aluminum cans etc. If we all did that someone might sit up and take notice. That's my hope.

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  7. May be Gwilym....But I am no longer hopeful of that, seeing the mentality of the younger generation whose sole purpose in life is entertainment,

    we blog, we talk -- we do it out of our interest, may be our inclination to connect with people who think on such issues -- the world at large and public seemingly isn't so much interested --

    wishes,
    devika

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