Thai Nuclear Power Plant Faces Strong Resistance

[ianh68]

Egat might shift to communicating with the nationwide public about the pros and cons of nuclear power, he said.

Shouldn't they be conducting a nationwide debate before sending out teams to scout locations?

[bkkjames]

It’s too bad your knowledge of nuclear plants and their safety does not extend to state of the engineering and construction business in Thailand. My self and several other members work in that business and I can tell you that there are a large number of world class facilities that have been engineered and constructed in Thailand over the past 15 years and are operated by Thais. If your only experience is watching a store being remodeled on Sukhumvit, then you best not speak about something you know nothing about, just as you say to people that know nothing about the nuclear plants and their safety.

Oh, and we currently employ some 30 expat engineers, that work with our 150 Thai ones.

TH

Did you read what was said above, they all agree with what you are saying, that this should not be done in Thailand!!

All they were saying was Nuclear power is clean and safe, they did not say it was safe in Thailand. I believe we all know about how construction in Thailand is done.

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don’t think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

A concern of mine would be the standards / materials used would be of the same quality at the airport.

[ericthai]

It’s too bad your knowledge of nuclear plants and their safety does not extend to state of the engineering and construction business in Thailand. My self and several other members work in that business and I can tell you that there are a large number of world class facilities that have been engineered and constructed in Thailand over the past 15 years and are operated by Thais. If your only experience is watching a store being remodeled on Sukhumvit, then you best not speak about something you know nothing about, just as you say to people that know nothing about the nuclear plants and their safety.

Oh, and we currently employ some 30 expat engineers, that work with our 150 Thai ones.

TH

Did you read what was said above, they all agree with what you are saying, that this should not be done in Thailand!!

All they were saying was Nuclear power is clean and safe, they did not say it was safe in Thailand. I believe we all know about how construction in Thailand is done.

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don’t think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

Sorry to tell you I am familair with industrial construction so please dont assume. I have worked as an electrical engineer for 10 yrs doing projects in the Philippines, Taiwan, US and Thailand mainly for petrochemical plants. I'm sorry you are correct, I misread you comment, as i reviewed it too fast. I do agree with you that some good construction is done in Thailand, as I have worked in several top class industrial plants in Thailand, however these are completed for private compaines and not the goverment, anytime the goverment gets involved too many hands are out and money is diverted and not used where it should be so corners are cut, I just don't believe Thailand is ready for such a responsibility at this time. I do believe a nuclear plant is a good safe way to produce elec, but there are too many issues to do this in Thailand. One thing I have not heard is their plan for the disposal of the waste, then the security and of course the construction so that corners are not cut. However I am be totally wrong as we dont know all the facts on the project or their plans. Again sorry I jumped the gun on your comments.

[nakachalet]

TH

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don’t think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

DID YOU KNOW, there are several retired nuclear physicists and scientists from the u.s. as well as europe in the forum .... lol

should a person with only 10+ yrs in industrial engineering and construction in thailand.... be so bold.... lol

on the other hand, pls do not get me wrong.... your personal experiences are very valuable.... and i also respect it as well....

at present, these individuals are NOT in favor of building nuclear power generators on thai soil....

Edited November 13, 2009 by nakachalet

[bdenner]

I guess if it where to be 100% foreign owned and operated then it would be a fare thing, German engineering and technology is pretty good, they have close ties to Thailand.

But then we know it will not happen, it'll more than likely be an AoT type project there WILL be far greater issues than a few cracks in a runway. IMO, whether we like it or not Nuclear energy will a major power source as the Global warming threat increases BUT not in the hands of Thais.

[thaihome]

It’s too bad your knowledge of nuclear plants and their safety does not extend to state of the engineering and construction business in Thailand. My self and several other members work in that business and I can tell you that there are a large number of world class facilities that have been engineered and constructed in Thailand over the past 15 years and are operated by Thais. If your only experience is watching a store being remodeled on Sukhumvit, then you best not speak about something you know nothing about, just as you say to people that know nothing about the nuclear plants and their safety.

Oh, and we currently employ some 30 expat engineers, that work with our 150 Thai ones.

TH

Did you read what was said above, they all agree with what you are saying, that this should not be done in Thailand!!

All they were saying was Nuclear power is clean and safe, they did not say it was safe in Thailand. I believe we all know about how construction in Thailand is done.

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don’t think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

Sorry to tell you I am familair with industrial construction so please dont assume. I have worked as an electrical engineer for 10 yrs doing projects in the Philippines, Taiwan, US and Thailand mainly for petrochemical plants. I'm sorry you are correct, I misread you comment, as i reviewed it too fast. I do agree with you that some good construction is done in Thailand, as I have worked in several top class industrial plants in Thailand, however these are completed for private compaines and not the goverment, anytime the goverment gets involved too many hands are out and money is diverted and not used where it should be so corners are cut, I just don't believe Thailand is ready for such a responsibility at this time. I do believe a nuclear plant is a good safe way to produce elec, but there are too many issues to do this in Thailand. One thing I have not heard is their plan for the disposal of the waste, then the security and of course the construction so that corners are not cut. However I am be totally wrong as we dont know all the facts on the project or their plans. Again sorry I jumped the gun on your comments.

My main point, which you agree with, is that it is possible, and is done everyday, to build an industrial plant to international standards in Thailand. If the Chinese can do it, which they have, then it will be easy in Thailand.

TH

[thaihome]

DID YOU KNOW, there are several retired nuclear physicists and scientists from the u.s. as well as europe in the forum .... lol

should a person with only 10+ yrs in industrial engineering and construction in thailand.... be so bold.... lol

on the other hand, pls do not get me wrong.... your personal experiences are very valuable.... and i also respect it as well....

at present, these individuals are NOT in favor of building nuclear power generators on thai soil....

Nuclear physicists and scientists do not build nuclear power plants. Engineers and Construction people do. I’m sure your retired nuclear physicists and scientists have zero experience in Thailand and are making these comments from their bar stools on Sukhumvit. lol

Anyone that has worked in the business in Asia would know it is far more scarier for the Chinese to have built one that is currently operating.

TH

[Soutpeel]

It's too bad your knowledge of nuclear plants and their safety does not extend to state of the engineering and construction business in Thailand. My self and several other members work in that business and I can tell you that there are a large number of world class facilities that have been engineered and constructed in Thailand over the past 15 years and are operated by Thais. If your only experience is watching a store being remodeled on Sukhumvit, then you best not speak about something you know nothing about, just as you say to people that know nothing about the nuclear plants and their safety.

Oh, and we currently employ some 30 expat engineers, that work with our 150 Thai ones.

TH

Did you read what was said above, they all agree with what you are saying, that this should not be done in Thailand!!

All they were saying was Nuclear power is clean and safe, they did not say it was safe in Thailand. I believe we all know about how construction in Thailand is done.

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don't think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

TH,

The degree of ignorance show on this thread with reference to commercial Nuclear power is beyond belief and all these comments are coming from people who have been educated in so called Western countries, it is very apparant that the vast majority of people commenting have no clue about what they are commenting on..

Seeing as I have been directly involved in nuclear construction/operations and maintenance in so called 3rd world countries all me to dispel some of the myths put forward in this thread to date, as related to possible nuclear construction in Thailand:

Said power plant would be constructed by an international company specialising in this type of construction...front runner for doing this would be the French ie Framtome/EDF, as they have the most experience on the international stage.

Said power plant needs to be licensed by the IAEC, to which Thailand is a signatory, therefore the international standards laid down need to be met prior to being granted the license, said license is subject to periodic review, therefore standards need to be maintained, otherwise said plant will be required to shutdown and no more fuel for the plant will be sold to Thailand.

Said power plant (s) if PWR type construction on average take 6-8 years to construct per plant and would be run/operated/maintained post commisioning for at least 3-5 years by the construction company, during this period selected Thai nationals will be trained by the construction company in operations/mainteance etc....

As with TH, I have been involved with heavy engineering/construction, plants etc in thailand for the last 8 years and I agree with TH that Thailand could operate a NPS sucessfully.

[Soutpeel]

Wonder if they will consider the newer "golf ball" style nuclear plants, or simply go with the same 40 year old technology with domes, spent rods, etc... Saw an interesting article on this newer approach last year, that might be a nuclear technology the Thai's could handle. Sort of...

Yeah, I posted some of the articles about pebble bed reactors earlier in the thread I guess you missed it. Simple (important here) safe, and clean. Still in the development stages though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor

http://pebblebedreactor.blogspot.com

http://www.eskom.co.za/nuclear_energy/pebb...pebble_bed.html

Pebble beds are still quite a few years away from being fully commerical, the first pilot plant is being assessed in South Africa currently..

[peecee]

Surprising how much ignorance there is regarding renewable energy and in particular nuclear power. Thailand, along with many other countries will have to consider the contingency of using nuclear energy in the future. Wind power, how much wind is there in Thailand? Solar is a perfect source, yet it hasn't really been used much here. Nuclear power is a good answer to a global problem. Any contract will be tendered to Western companies. I fail to see the problem if the plant is built and maintained properly..

It's you who is ignorant. I once read a German report about the dangers of nuclear power plants (short version of the original 1000 page document) and is was mind boggling. The nuclear industry sent two lawyers against the publisher to refute them, but both of them turned against nuclear power after investigating the report and finding it to be true.

Ok who is really ignorant, out of all the nuclear power plants in the world operating over the years how many people have died?

30 people and this was from chernobyl disaster. Now how many people die each year from mining coal? hundreds? There have only been a few incidents with nuclear power plants, Three mile nobody was injured and nobody got anymore radiation than what you get from an x-ray. chernobyl disaster happened when Russia was falling apart, no money, corrportion and people that did not care about anything. Now I'm not saying Nuclear Power is right for Thailand, because it's not ready for such a responsibility for the same reasons Russia had a problem. I do believe Nuclear power is a very good source for power and is safer, people never think about coal power plants being dangerous as they don't think about the coal miners and don't consider they lives lost as a direct relation to generating power, but if we didn't need coal for power we wouldn't have coal miners dying.

As for wind power in Thailand there are several projects already completed and more being implemented but wind power in Thailand is very limited due to low wind currents. Solar is still a good source, but costs are still high. Solar is being used in remote parts of Thailand where there is no electrical connections to grids, but this is still only a small amount.

We have promoted waste to energy power plants in Thailand, but no government people want to hear about it as it's not enough money in for them. Until Thailand's government really starts caring about the people and not their pockets they are going to keep focusing on Nuclear power as this is a big dollar project and allot of money to go around, which will end up in cutting corners and will result in a poorly built plant that will only be a time bomb waiting to go off.

Im realy ignorant & mostly talk out of my methane orifice but if they run a nuclear op like they wire up this country better get a train driver to work the control room!

[CrossBones]

Bloody hel_l!!!

A Thai nuclear power station......... RUN FOR THE HILLS !!!!!

[CrossBones]

Well, if the Thai government paid foreign scientists/engineers, from Germany or Canada for example, to build, run, and maintain the plant, I am all for it. The amount of pollution that would go away (from burning coal) would be amazing. Although, I think that if Thailand wants to cut down on pollution... they should do something about trucks, buses and motorcycles that billow out that lovely black smoke.

I'm for it I guess, but I have my doubts.

No they dont want foreign experts.... Thailand doesnt need foreign experts because they are superior to foreigners. They wont give them work permits.

Instead they will use local "experts" or maybe use North Korean nuclear experts , since they have similar features they could be disguised as Thai people so Thailand wont have to lose face.

The idea of Thai nuclear power is terrifying.

[Scott]

I know there's a plot of land near Preah Vihear temple that is vacant and unlikely to be used for anything constructive in the near future. Also, it is well guarded, and few people get to close to the place.

[CrossBones]

Most of the falung that are so against nuclear power here form their opinions purely on racism; even though the plant would probably be built by an experienced company like siemens, just the fact that Thai people would be working there is enough to be against it.

I'm glad these people are against it, this would be a good time for you people to leave, it's too dangerous here.

keep in mind for the average farang that hangs around the bar scene here-the only thai's he has contact with are the poorest rural thais who would be willing to entertain them- so they think that is what all thai people are like and they look down on the whole country.. but at the same time they insist on living here because living in their country sucks, i should know-i'm from the US and it sucks there..

we don't worry about nuclear power there even though most of the plants are old and run down, far inferior to what they are planning on building here, as is the airports in the US, and the public transportation.. here i been riding the bts and mrt for years and it's never malfunctioned or stalled in my experience.. when i lived in LA i used to ride this thing called the 'blue line' and omfg what a peice of sht, it had this nausiating smell, would troll into traffic instead of staying on an elevated track, it was slow and would often break down, once i got stuck in downtown la with everyone else that had used it to commute because the whole thing failed, another time the motor on the train in front of us caught fire and the people in it had to be evacuated off the elevated track, and we in the car behind (and every other train behind) got stuck in the train for 90minutes until they could get the damaged car towed away.. and yet no one worries about nuclear power there even though it's the same incompetence that would be a public works project there, if the trains are so lousy how could we operate a nuke plant..

i feel much safer with a nuke plant here than i would with san onofre in s.cal.

<deleted>!!!

[Scott]

No need to worry, they will build a warning system in case of any leakage, so everyone will be safe.

[Bizz]

Looking at the Build quality of the airport and crumbling runways.

A nuclear power plant in the Land of Kickbacks and corner-cutting. It's a scary thought

No need to worry, they will build a warning system in case of any leakage, so everyone will be safe.

here they are serious

oh my g**

here we go

[ericthai]

It's too bad your knowledge of nuclear plants and their safety does not extend to state of the engineering and construction business in Thailand. My self and several other members work in that business and I can tell you that there are a large number of world class facilities that have been engineered and constructed in Thailand over the past 15 years and are operated by Thais. If your only experience is watching a store being remodeled on Sukhumvit, then you best not speak about something you know nothing about, just as you say to people that know nothing about the nuclear plants and their safety.

Oh, and we currently employ some 30 expat engineers, that work with our 150 Thai ones.

TH

Did you read what was said above, they all agree with what you are saying, that this should not be done in Thailand!!

All they were saying was Nuclear power is clean and safe, they did not say it was safe in Thailand. I believe we all know about how construction in Thailand is done.

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don't think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

TH,

The degree of ignorance show on this thread with reference to commercial Nuclear power is beyond belief and all these comments are coming from people who have been educated in so called Western countries, it is very apparant that the vast majority of people commenting have no clue about what they are commenting on..

Seeing as I have been directly involved in nuclear construction/operations and maintenance in so called 3rd world countries all me to dispel some of the myths put forward in this thread to date, as related to possible nuclear construction in Thailand:

Said power plant would be constructed by an international company specialising in this type of construction...front runner for doing this would be the French ie Framtome/EDF, as they have the most experience on the international stage.

Said power plant needs to be licensed by the IAEC, to which Thailand is a signatory, therefore the international standards laid down need to be met prior to being granted the license, said license is subject to periodic review, therefore standards need to be maintained, otherwise said plant will be required to shutdown and no more fuel for the plant will be sold to Thailand.

Said power plant (s) if PWR type construction on average take 6-8 years to construct per plant and would be run/operated/maintained post commisioning for at least 3-5 years by the construction company, during this period selected Thai nationals will be trained by the construction company in operations/mainteance etc....

As with TH, I have been involved with heavy engineering/construction, plants etc in thailand for the last 8 years and I agree with TH that Thailand could operate a NPS sucessfully.

Soutpeel and TH, I don't doubt that it's possible to build a top notch plant in Thailand as I stated and agreed with you that I have worked in many plants in Thailand that are just as good, if not better than some I have seen in the US. My concern is the involvement of the government as I'm not positive but it appears the majority of the money is coming from the government and when they are involved in something it just does not work out as it should. You are correct, it is scary that China is operating Nuclear power plant, fact is they have about 10 in operation now and around 20 in various stages of construction at this time and are planning on building more. The US is so far behind on Nuclear power it's not funny dont know if they will ever get out of the dark on this subject (pun intended). Anyway I'm still not sure Thailand is ready for this. I mean with all the corruption (where corners would be cut, a private company would not stand for it. I did some work at NFC back in 96-97 when it was being built which was being funded by the government, saw allot of issues with construction things we corrected later on but corners were cut) then you have unstable politics where we had protesters that were able to shut down an airport, crush a summit meeting what could they do at a power plant if they really wanted to. Just dont know if Thailand is ready for this. I look forward to more comments on this.

[ericthai]

Well, if the Thai government paid foreign scientists/engineers, from Germany or Canada for example, to build, run, and maintain the plant, I am all for it. The amount of pollution that would go away (from burning coal) would be amazing. Although, I think that if Thailand wants to cut down on pollution... they should do something about trucks, buses and motorcycles that billow out that lovely black smoke.

I'm for it I guess, but I have my doubts.

No they dont want foreign experts.... Thailand doesnt need foreign experts because they are superior to foreigners. They wont give them work permits.

Instead they will use local "experts" or maybe use North Korean nuclear experts , since they have similar features they could be disguised as Thai people so Thailand wont have to lose face.

The idea of Thai nuclear power is terrifying.

crossbones Dont talk out of your... They will use foreigners as experts, they do this all the time in Thailand. I have been doing engineering work in Thailand for over 10 years, I'm a falang and have a work permit and know many many more falangs here in Thailand with work permits.

Edited November 13, 2009 by ericthai

[chiangdan]

Thailand is not ready for a Nuclear Power Plant.

End of story.

Yes I agree. I can just see them blowing themselves up and the fallout travelling all across sth east aisa. Lets be realistic they can't even build roads or footpaths that don't crack within 3 months of constuction and they want to build a nuclear reactor. Nope thais are not ready for such tecnology. Learn to do the simple things in life 1st and reconsider in say 100 to 200 yrs time.

[MellowYellow]

I'll happily acede to the experienced industrial constructors that building a safe plant here is possible.

What I would hae to see with my own eyes, and I think a lot of others with no experience in either industrial construction or nuclear power, would be the ability of Thai Nationals to staff the plant in any forseeable future.

I was a nuclear engineer for some time but focused heavily o the operations side, far less so on the construction.

The main safety concerns:

1)Design

2)Construction

3)Operation (Maintenance and control)

1) seems stariaght forward. The design is contracte dto a foreign firm with longterm and safe experience in the field.

2) Raises some doubts do the the general low standards involving Thai engineering Practices, but lets say they ca be overcome as our Thai experienced consturctos say.

3) How long does it take to train and experience qualified and safe staff (both operators and maintainers)? In my experience it takes a very long time and requires instilling a very UN-Thai like culture of personal accountability down to the smallest of details.

If as a poster said, the plant would be staffed by the foriegn company for X years, how long is X? I don't think 3 years is anything close to adequate to both gain the required level of experience and instill the cuture required. If X is much >3years will The Thai government live with the shocking affront of Foreigners operating their "crown of energy production" indefinitely?

PS: If this actually comes to fruition, I am rather interested in coming out of my semi-early retirement and perhaps participating.

[chiangdan]

It's too bad your knowledge of nuclear plants and their safety does not extend to state of the engineering and construction business in Thailand. My self and several other members work in that business and I can tell you that there are a large number of world class facilities that have been engineered and constructed in Thailand over the past 15 years and are operated by Thais. If your only experience is watching a store being remodeled on Sukhumvit, then you best not speak about something you know nothing about, just as you say to people that know nothing about the nuclear plants and their safety.

Oh, and we currently employ some 30 expat engineers, that work with our 150 Thai ones.

TH

Did you read what was said above, they all agree with what you are saying, that this should not be done in Thailand!!

All they were saying was Nuclear power is clean and safe, they did not say it was safe in Thailand. I believe we all know about how construction in Thailand is done.

Your reading comprehension needs some improvement.

I am saying that from my 10+ years experience in industrial engineering and construction in Thailand, that there is no reason why a fully safe nuclear plant could not built and operated here.

I don't think you or most everyone else here knows anything about industrial construction in Thailand.

TH

We may not be trained engineers but I think we all know that thai engineers / construction workers resemble kids playing with leggo blocks just look around you at the crumbling treets and buildings it's everwhere.

[brahmburgers]

I agree with Animatic,otherwise an international ,preferably European consultancy group should be brought in for construction & implementation phases.

I'm sure America/Canada could help if approached .

Even America/Canada don't yet have a viable ways to deal with spent rods. Indeed, no country does.

Although a "properly" built nuclear energy plants have an excellent safety record....

Japanese are no slouchers when it comes to building things well. Yet their largest nuke plant, recently built, had a radiation leak.

In the OP it says EGAT plans to educate the Thai public and show them the 'pros and cons'. EGAT will present a slick sales pitch - with as much pizzazz as a multi billion baht corporation can muster. They're dead set on getting nuclear plants for Thailand - come hel_l or high water. Details

[thaiscam]

Like the schools they'll have a no fail system

[tmark]

All this is a bit of a moot point really. I think the main problem with nuclear energy is not safety .. but .. the same as oil .. it's non renewable. Sooner or later .. just like oil .. all the uranium will have been used up. Then what?

I know of a couple of projects happening in Thailand right now involving the production of bio diesel to run small generators. Tropical Thailand is an ideal place to grow whatever they want to make the stuff. Wood chips, sugarcane etc. They just have to decentralize the power grids and have more local "bio power plants"

Ahhh ... dream on !

[loong]

All this is a bit of a moot point really. I think the main problem with nuclear energy is not safety .. but .. the same as oil .. it's non renewable. Sooner or later .. just like oil .. all the uranium will have been used up. Then what?

I know of a couple of projects happening in Thailand right now involving the production of bio diesel to run small generators. Tropical Thailand is an ideal place to grow whatever they want to make the stuff. Wood chips, sugarcane etc. They just have to decentralize the power grids and have more local "bio power plants"

Ahhh ... dream on !

Good point re bio-diesel.

I've often wondered why this is not given much thought in Thailand. They have moved into Ethanol, so why not Bio-diesel?

Out in the sticks, I see a lot of idle land and a lot of idle people. Surely some of this land could be cultivated to grow vegetable oil producing plants? Maybe it is not cost effective even with the availability of cheap labour?

[Crossy]

No need to worry, they will build a warning system in case of any leakage, so everyone will be safe.

and will then fail to replace the spent battery because it costs too much

(did that bettery ever get changed?)

[brahmburgers]

Solar, bio and wind are nice ideas but not practical for large scale power generation.

Solar is viable for large scale, particularly 'concentrated solar.' Still not cheap to set up (but costs are lower month by month), ...yet the long-term advantages, compared to nuclear, are awesome. Americans and Spaniards are at the vanguard of large scale solar and have operating systems as we speak.

Here are some sobering thoughts that EGAT will not tell the Thai people:

>>>> every time a nuclear plant is about to be built, it's called 'state of the art' at the time, and it's claimed the problems of earlier plants have been ironed out. Then there are problems, and along comes a newer design that's 'state of the art' ...and so on.

>>>> No country in the world has a viable way to dispose of radioactive waste. Why should we think a technological backwater like Thailand will find a safe solution?

>>>> Nuclear plants are expensive. Major cost over-runs are inevitable.

>>>> Getting nuclear fuel is a chore. Already bigger richer nations are having to queue up for small supplies - which only get produced (from yellowcake) in a handful of farang countries. The potential for price gauging and glitches in the causeway from mine to plant are daunting. Labor disputes, terrorists, pirates, shipwreck, trainwreck, truck wreck, processing machinery failure, cartel formation, ....the list is long on potential glitches.

>>>> Terrorists love Nuke plants. Can you think of a juicier target?

>>>> Who's going to insure the plants, the Thai government? The same bunch of fellows who have a can of worms with the power boat purchase from Austria?

>>>> Rancho Seco N. Power plant in Sacramento California was shut down after 15 years. The citizens in the area voted overwhelmingly to close it, after sustained protests. Could something similar happen in Thailand? Yes, but it wouldn't be a matter of peaceful protests and ballot boxes. It would be bloody. Thailand has a sordid recent history of dozens of environmental protesters getting killed by vested interests. And (surprise) the murderers are never pursued.

[jackr]

Imagine the dome of a nuclear power station surrounded by bamboo scaffolding!

Even though it'll clearly be tendered out, for me the big worry is the inevitable back-handers and corner-cutting over the life of the project (including waste disposal) as opposed to Somchai using the wrong size rebar for the core.

Sooner or later .. just like oil .. all the uranium will have been used up. Then what?

Catch hold of a NEO asteroid, mine it in space and then send the merch down in an indestructible canister on the (by then) space elevator.

-

On nuclear power, has to be better than continually burning coal and oil (until better use of the, sun's or atomic energy, can be made), although the risk of some misfit organization getting hold of the spent rods and making dirty bombs is not a nice thought.

[nakachalet]

WHO GONNA HELP THAILAND BUILD NUCLEAR POWER GENERATORS FACILITIES?

here it is.... right straight from the horsey mouth.... lol

Edited November 14, 2009 by nakachalet

[fiercesnake]

Thailand having a nuclear power plant, now that really is a scary thought.

Gosh BIG TIME YES! Nuclear power plants can be highly efficient and a great source of power but in LOS???!!! Gee whizz, maybe we all need to run out and buy a radiation suit soon? Do you REALLY trust them to get it right? Ever seen the old movie the China Syndrome, where a simple cost cutting measure by a sub-contractor of not x-raying all welds and repeating a good weld x-ray on official forms ended up in near potential catastrophic nuclear accident? Oh but couldn't possibly happen here! How dare I suggest that! OK I'm checking e-bay now for radiation protection equipment