<DrumBeat: June 29, 2006 The Oil Drum DrumBeat: June 30, 2006>

85 comments on Oil Shale - the Nuclear Option

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totoneila on June 30, 2006 - 2:43am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hello MicroHydro,

Somehow, I think the insurance underwriters would refuse to offer coverage-- the risks of something going wrong are probably too high.  Using the govt as the insurer of last resort would be like asking New Orleans residents to fully and faithfully trust the govt again.  The only way to get this done is when the military is so desperate for fuel that they will shoot anyone that stands between them and the oil, and if a nuclear accident or something worse happens-- it will just be considered as collateral damage.

Bob Shaw in Phx,AZ  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?
 

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Don in Colorado on June 30, 2006 - 3:32am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
These guys aren't going to wreck my organic garden and farm, are they?
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totoneila on June 30, 2006 - 4:48am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hello Don in Colorado,

If they do-- it will be unintentional--but of course that won't make you feel any better.  I am no geologist, but setting off all those nukes might possibly wreck the surrounding water tables or aquifers with earthquakes and ground settling.  Maybe jumpstart a volcano too?  Having plenty of local oil, but suddenly having no nearby water seems like a bad tradeoff to me.

Bob Shaw in Phx,AZ  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

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Don in Colorado on June 30, 2006 - 7:20pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I kind of like the volcano idea, Bob.

I built my house out of concrete-reinforced rastra block. I think it could survive the concussion of nuclear blasts on the other side of the Grand Mesa, but I still need uncontaminated water, and too much dust from nuclear fallout might really make my passive solar windows inoperative.

Maybe we should all move to Tahiti ...

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tstreet on June 30, 2006 - 10:43am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Don

Since you apparently live in Colorado, you should know that the Colorado constitution requires a vote of the people for undergound nuclear blasting.  I helped put it on the ballot in 1975.  

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Don in Colorado on June 30, 2006 - 7:13pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hi tstreet,

I was a kid reporter at the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel during the last oil shale boom. At least that one was only a figurative "boom."

I'm hoping for a global recession that will make oil shale once again the energy source of the future ...

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85 comments on Oil Shale - the Nuclear Option

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