[mythtv-users] [Slightly OT] solar power for all our gadgets

[Simon Hobson]

Brian Wood wrote:

>  > The public perception may also be affected by such names as "Three
>>  Mile Island", "Chernobyl", "Forsmark" (and there are others).
>
>But names like "Bophal" certainly did not stem our appetite for chemical
>products, nor do names such as Katrina curb our desire for waterfront
>property.
>
>Unfortunately, the name that is in most people's minds when it comes to
>nuclear power is "Hiroshima".
>
>Stupid, but probably true.

Depends on where you are ! Round here (Cumbria, UK, just down the 
coast from it), Windscale is the name everyone things of - and the 
pile fire in the 50's. From 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windscale_fire

>On 10 October, 1957, the graphite core of a British nuclear reactor 
>at Windscale, Cumberland, caught fire, releasing substantial amounts 
>of radioactive contamination into the surrounding area. The event, 
>known as the Windscale fire, was considered the world's worst 
>reactor accident until the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Both 
>incidents were dwarfed by the magnitude of the Chernobyl disaster in 
>1986.

I might add, that around here, I believe there are still areas with 
livestock movement restrictions from the Chernobyl fallout ! After 
the 57 fire, milk from affected farms had to be poured away - I've 
heard that, according to the compensation claims, the cows on the 
affected farms were the most productive in the world ;-)

The fact that the piles were absolutely nothing to do with power 
generation seems to be missed, and I always feel a mix of anger and 
bemusement when there's a TV report related to Sellafield and they 
show library pictures of the cooling towers at the (now closed) 
Calder Hall Magnox power station the other side of the river. 
Completely unrelated, I've walked across the pile cap of one of the 
Calder Hall reactors - many years ago on a School trip.

Actually, in a way it's a bit sad to see the skyline changing and 
these icons going. The AGR is being dismantled (though nothing to see 
yet for a while as it's all being done inside the outer containment 
'golf ball'), I think the cooling towers are gone from Calder Hall, 
the piles are (slowly coming down).


-- 
Simon Hobson

Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
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