Thailand Opts To Build Nuclear Power Plant

[chinthee]

Uh...I'll have what he's having...

[edwinchester]

Can anyone please tell me how to spell Homer Simpson in Thai?

[Mid]

Asean warned off nuclear energy

Singapore (dpa) - The environmental group Greenpeace called Thursday on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to adopt binding renewable energy and efficiency targets to avert dangerous climate change.

snip

bangkokpost.com

[Jai Dee]

Greenpeace warns Thailand not to fall into nuclear trap

Technology is costly and dangerous, it says

Thailand should not repeat the mistakes of industrialised countries which have suffered a string of economic and environmental problems caused by nuclear power plants, Greenpeace warned yesterday.

''Nuclear technology is costly, dangerous, and should not be taken up by any country in Asia,'' said Nur Hidayati, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. ''Our region has vast amounts of resources to produce renewable energy. Therefore, there is no need to resort to such risky technology,'' she said.

More from the Bangkok Post here.

[Mid]

Govt 'keeping country in nuclear dark'

Published on August 26, 2007

Academic labels PR blitz one-sided; expert doubts ability to manage radioactive wastePublished on August 26, 2007

The government's publicity campaign for nuclear energy has been condemned by an academic, who says it is hiding the facts from the people.

Ubonrat Siriyuwasak, from Chulalongkorn University's mass communications department, is irritated with the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP), saying it is only publicising the good side of nuclear power

snip

nationmultimedia.com

[Maxi101]

... what all that scaremongering about nuclear energy.

Greenpeace urges .... not to fall in the nuclear trap ?!?!

Thailand should go ahead and its good govenment spending too.

[Mid]

Thailand wants to build 4 nuke plants

By MICHAEL CASEY

Thailand wants to build at least four nuclear power plants, the country's energy minister said Friday, in the latest sign that Southeast Asian countries are embracing atomic energy to offset their dependence on imported oil and gas.

snip

businessweek.com

4

[Tony Clifton]

Couple more coats of Chinese lead paint and I'm safe.

[John K]

One of the trendy new items at Thai upscale boutiques.

The badge says replace if red. I don’t know it that means the badge or who is wearing it.

How red is yours?

Edited September 8, 2007 by John K

[toptuan]

Maybe they could hire one of the Thai wingwalkers for the Airbus 380 to head up safety protocol?

[Mid]

Five soldiers injured in military base explosion

September 13, 2007 : Last updated 08:00 pm

Nakhon Si Thammarat - Five soldiers were injured in an explosion inside the Special Warfare Base in Sichol district of this southern province Thursday evening.

The military said the explosion occurred at 5 pm during an ordnance training exercise.

The Nation

'bout those power plants .............................

[soundman]

Five soldiers injured in military base explosion

September 13, 2007 : Last updated 08:00 pm

Nakhon Si Thammarat - Five soldiers were injured in an explosion inside the Special Warfare Base in Sichol district of this southern province Thursday evening.

The military said the explosion occurred at 5 pm during an ordnance training exercise.

The Nation

'bout those power plants .............................

How quickly we forget that huge munitions dump in Korat blowing up in 1998......

[Mid]

Democrats plump for no-nuke policy

Published on September 16, 2007

With the country racing to embrace nuclear energy, the Democrat Party has come up with a policy not to go nuclear, Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Pollabutra said.

He said the party's policy would be to withdraw the plan to construct nuclear power plants in Thailand as stated in the 2007 Power Development Plan (PDP), due to safety concerns.

snip

nationmultimedia.com

[soundman]

Democrats plump for no-nuke policy

Published on September 16, 2007

With the country racing to embrace nuclear energy, the Democrat Party has come up with a policy not to go nuclear, Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Pollabutra said.

He said the party's policy would be to withdraw the plan to construct nuclear power plants in Thailand as stated in the 2007 Power Development Plan (PDP), due to safety concerns.

snip

nationmultimedia.com

Not sure whether this is a winner or loser amongst the Thai's. However one thing is for sure, most have forgotten about what I posted above.

Cheers.

[Mid]

due to safety concerns.

currently a hot topic for ASEAN , Philippines has announce plans to join the bandwagon .................

Singapore is angling to set itself up as the regional overseeing body .

the Indians are the latest to offer to build the plants .

the scary thing is that it's hard to imagine that the locals will be happy with their currently perceived role as the grass cutters ..................

[soundman]

the scary thing is that it's hard to imagine that the locals will be happy with their currently perceived role as the grass cutters ..................

Alongside the comments about EU Election observers!

[JR Texas]

the scary thing is that it's hard to imagine that the locals will be happy with their currently perceived role as the grass cutters ..................

Alongside the comments about EU Election observers!

Why not grow grass and use that as fuel......maybe it will make them "lighten up" a bit. :D

Seriously........why not use the frekin' sun? It is hotter than hel_l here........why not take more advantage of solar energy along with passive solar design and other energy efficiency measures?

Why not? Because some people want to make big money off of centralized energy systems...............Right? Wrong?

[Mid]

Nuclear plant will require $8 billion

Construction is scheduled for 2014

Wednesday September 26, 2007

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

Thailand's first nuclear power plant would require a massive capital investment of at least US$8 billion, according to Dr Kamol Takabut, the director of the mechanical engineering division at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). If and when the government decides to start construction in 2014, Egat will need to raise at least $8 billion to finance the high standard of construction required for the project.

''Atomic fuel has been used more around the globe lately. They say that a nuclear power plant is a 'clean fuel', but there are long procedures to catch up,'' he said.

snip

bangkokpost.net

[llothar]

Seriously........why not use the frekin' sun? It is hotter than hel_l here........why not take more advantage of solar energy along with passive solar design and other energy efficiency measures?

Because energy is still to cheap to make solar photovoltaic an alternative. And remember the hotter it is the less energy is produced by photovoltaic cells. This is a real design problem at the moment .

[brahmburgers]

The nuclear power plant is an alternative to produce electricity with no affect on the global warming, the minister said.

Where did he get that idea?

Sure, no CO2 emissions but a considerable amount of heat is generated by the nuclear reaction.

This is used to generate steam to drive the turbines and hence the generators.

Afterwards this heat has to be disippated, which is why these plants are generally build

on estuaries where there are large amounts of water.

See here

An insight into what can go wrong.

wrong. Nuclear power plants entail a significant amount of CO2 emissions, when you figure the fossil fuels need to be used to mine, process and ship the uranium from overseas. ....to get materials and do construction for the gargantuan plant, .....to deal with spent fuel rods, ......to decommission the plant and maintain security for the dead-zone that will sit like a sarcophagus for thousands of years.

Nuclear power for Thailand is wrong for many reasons. Who will insure it? How much will premiums be? Will the insurers be willing to cover for the possible lost farmland and ghost towns that could ensue if a major leak occured. Don't tell me it won't happen. Even countries which are far more technically advanced, richer and more security adept have had radioactive releases.

Has there been an announcement about how and where the spent fuel rods will be dealt with? Even technically savvy USA has a problem with that one. If Thai engineers have a viable solution, they should tell it to the rest of the nuclear countries, cause they don't have a viable solution at this time.

How good are Thai engineers? Besides the airport, here's another case study: In my town of Chiang Rai, there was a contract to construct a storm sewer - about 1 KM. The first sewer didn't drain well, so it was dug up and another set of large pipes installed. The second job didn't drain either, so it was all dug up and a 3rd one installed. If their municipal engineers need three attempts to figure out that water flows downhill, then what can we expect for a radioactive containment structure?

Now there's an announcement of a multi-billion baht 'educational' program (read: indoctrination program) to convince the Thai people to love what what radioactivity can do to improve their lives. We can expect the campaign to have all the pizzaz and veracity of a skin-whitener campaign aimed at teenage girls.

Even the $8 billion estimate is bullsnot. When has there ever been a large civil job in Thailand that was not over budget, ....that was not late, .....that had no corruption and pay-offs, .....that was not shoddy work?

And then there's security for the plant - brought to you by the same folks who's munition dumps blow up at a rate of about once per year - and who can't keep baggage handlers from rifling through baggage at the new airport.

[quiksilva]

I find the prospect of nuclear power in Thailand to scary to even think about.... :D

Will someone please tell these loons to stop the madness?

December can't come soon enough!

[soundman]

I find the prospect of nuclear power in Thailand to scary to even think about....

Will someone please tell these loons to stop the madness?

December can't come soon enough!

I think messing with anything we don't fully understand is fraught with danger....

[Jai Dee]

Update:

Thailand Mulls Building Nuclear Power Plant, Launches Study

Thailand has launched a three-year study to decide whether the kingdom should build a nuclear power plant to meet its growing energy needs, a top energy official said Friday.

The study, which will cost about 1.8 billion baht ($54.5 million), will include a survey of potential sites, developing safety regulations and a public education campaign, said Kopr Kritaykirana, an adviser to the project.

The Nuclear Power Program Development Office, which the energy ministry officially opened Thursday, is undertaking the research, he said.

If the new government embraces the plan, construction of a nuclear power plant could begin by 2014, he said.

Nuclear power has recently gained support from Thailand's business and industrial interests, which see it as a reliable domestic source of energy.

Thailand imports most of its energy needs, leaving the country particularly vulnerable to shifts in energy prices.

Piyasvasti Amranand, the outgoing energy minister in a military-installed government, has enthusiastically promoted nuclear energy.

A new elected government is expected to take office next week.

Thailand relies on natural gas for about two-thirds of its electricity production. The rest comes mainly from coal and hydropower.

Demand is higher than production capacity, forcing the kingdom to import electricity from neighbors such as Laos and Malaysia.

Source: AFP - 01 February 2008

[tso310]

With the 1.8 Billion baht they are proposing to spend on this study that sort of money would buy alot of solar panels and wind turbines with the benefits being had well before they are even in a position to build a nuclear power plant.

[Jai Dee]

Nuclear countdown

On his very last day as energy minister, Piyasvasti Amranand officially inaugurated a three-year, 1.38- billion-baht study of nuclear power generation for Thailand.

The study would be undertaken by the new Nuclear Power Development Office (NPDO). The working panel would be chaired by Norkhun Sitthiphong, the current deputy permanent secretary for the Energy Ministry.Dr Piyasvasti said the preparation procedure involved various elements including a feasibility study, site selection, public acceptance plan, and development of the required technical skills for local personnel.

More from the Bangkok Post here.

[Cobalt60]

Mass hysteria breaks out on TV Look, as long as they dont go for the cheapest tender (ie India, China)..............no i cant go on

[steveromagnino]

The study and the high capital cost of a nuclear power plant plus the willingness of international companies like GE to turn a blind eye to the corruption payments as per the CTX project make this an ideal candidate for skim. The money goes out and never comes back to Thailand.

'Nuff said.

I have met the pro nuclear committee; all smart and ethical guys, they are totally unaware (I hope) that they are being used as pawns in another airport/mega project scam.

Sadly, not one of them could answer the questions regarding potential gains from energy efficiency, load management, cost reflective pricing and privatisation of the industry. For instance:

Nuclear will make us less dependent on foreign energy

- but the raw fuel comes from abroad by sea; we have not fully tapped into all potential sources of energy e.g. gas/condensate/coal in the Kingdom and region

Nuclear is cheaper

- only because the cost of disposal is not factored in nor the land where it is going to be; additionally the cost of capital used has massive assumptions and a huge effect on the cost of the project as most of cost of nuclear is capital upfront cost

Nuclear is safe

- less than 100 stations (AFAIK) and 3 major accidents. Name another industry with such a <deleted> track record

We have no choice

- energy efficiency, coal, import, solar, new technologies, change in manufacturing techniques, introduce combined cycle, privatised energy market, biomass, cogen. True energy deregulation could probably reduce industrial power prices by more than 50% based on my experience in NZ (where prices dropped around 70% on average) - this is nothing to do with competition. Homes can afford to pay.

We can build safety measures to run it to international standards

- refer to safety above; also refer to most other projects govts touch

It reduces emissions

- not compared to wind and solar obviously. Or hydro. And no work has been done on a full carbon footprint anyhow, Please let us know exactly where you intend to store the waste..at a guess not in Sukhumvit Ekamai area riiiiiiiiiiiight?

But I needz ta get paid yo

- true dat homey, skim me 20% on da down low ya knoooooooooooooooooooow.

[freitag1]

Oh Thailand... I don't really care about the crime here, I don't really care about the rotten society and government but please don't blow yourself up...

Kinda funny, Germany gets completely out of nuclear energy in the next 10 years and Thailand gets into it.

Edited February 1, 2008 by freitag1

[brahmburgers]

Part of the 1.8 Billion baht feasablitily study is earmarked to 'educate' the public. Yea, I can guess what their 'education' will consist of: nothing but tourist bureau-type aggrandizements of the multiple benefits and safety of nuclear.

Have the authorities heard of Rancho Seco? That's the nuclear power plant near Sacramento CA that was closed down, even while functional, because the surrounding residents got smart to the myriad problems of nuclear.

Have the authorities considered the cost of decommisioning the plants? Not just monetary, but the radioactive sarcophacos will be an ominous monument presiding over an off-limits death zone that should last about 50,000 years.

Nuclear is fraught with problems - especially for Thailand. Who's going to insure the plants? Will the insurance cover everything in a three hundred KM radius around each plant - in case of leakage? Leakage has happened even in the most advanced tech coutries (US, Russia, Japan) so how can authorities presume it won't happen in a tech backwater like Thailand?

CONCENTRATED SOLAR is a technology that uses mirrors to focus the sun's rays on a focal point. Working stations in SW USA show it can generate 1600 Kw/acre (640 Kw/rai) per year. Setting up such systems would cost a tiny fraction of nuclear, and the comparative benefits would be enormous.

[BigSnake]

Saftey First Please!!