[Not an outright dumb letter, but not well thought through.]
Dec 29, 2008
Offshore nuclear plant for S'pore?
I REFER to last Monday's article, 'Asia weighs nuclear power option', and last Wednesday's articles on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
I suggest that an offshore nuclear power station would benefit Singapore. Singapore is too small to house a nuclear power station. But, like the Marina Bay floating stadium, we must innovate to make up for what we lack.
An offshore station in the open sea can have many advantages. It can be moved to avoid threatening weather when needed. The open sea can enhance and ensure a high level of security; a much larger area can be cordoned off to give security forces more time and flexibility to react to any threats.
[As the pirates of Somalia and Aden has shown. The open sea is not safer. An aircraft carrier travels in a fleet or battle group and those support ships are to provide protection for the aircraft carrier which would be a prime military target. An offshore nuclear power plant would have the same bullseye painted on it. And the seas around Singapore are too congested to have a large enough security area. And how do you fence off the sea? As for comparing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with an offshore power plant, the difference is the carrier is producing power for itself. The offshore power plant is producing power for use offsite. That means power transmission lines need to connect the plant to the mainland. That means limited or even no movement once fixed.]
The sea will also ensure a higher level of safety as there is an almost unlimited amount of water available. Most importantly, nuclear power emits minimal greenhouse gases and has proven to be extremely safe when managed properly.
Singapore has one of the best offshore rig-building and ship-repair companies in the world. Ocean-going nuclear power marine vessels, both naval and merchant, have been built and are running across the world for more than 50 years (since 1955).
It is not cheap to use nuclear energy to power a vessel, but using an offshore platform or vessel to house one or many micro nuclear power generators should be more economically and socially viable than building a station on land.
Syu Ying Kwok
[We may need nuclear power one day, but the problems are not quite ready to be solved. If a stop-gap measure is required today, then yes, buy a few nuclear-powered ships, dock them and run the power lines out to the grid. The issues of security we leave to the experts to propose.]
Dec 29, 2008
Offshore nuclear plant for S'pore?
I REFER to last Monday's article, 'Asia weighs nuclear power option', and last Wednesday's articles on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
I suggest that an offshore nuclear power station would benefit Singapore. Singapore is too small to house a nuclear power station. But, like the Marina Bay floating stadium, we must innovate to make up for what we lack.
An offshore station in the open sea can have many advantages. It can be moved to avoid threatening weather when needed. The open sea can enhance and ensure a high level of security; a much larger area can be cordoned off to give security forces more time and flexibility to react to any threats.
[As the pirates of Somalia and Aden has shown. The open sea is not safer. An aircraft carrier travels in a fleet or battle group and those support ships are to provide protection for the aircraft carrier which would be a prime military target. An offshore nuclear power plant would have the same bullseye painted on it. And the seas around Singapore are too congested to have a large enough security area. And how do you fence off the sea? As for comparing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with an offshore power plant, the difference is the carrier is producing power for itself. The offshore power plant is producing power for use offsite. That means power transmission lines need to connect the plant to the mainland. That means limited or even no movement once fixed.]
The sea will also ensure a higher level of safety as there is an almost unlimited amount of water available. Most importantly, nuclear power emits minimal greenhouse gases and has proven to be extremely safe when managed properly.
Singapore has one of the best offshore rig-building and ship-repair companies in the world. Ocean-going nuclear power marine vessels, both naval and merchant, have been built and are running across the world for more than 50 years (since 1955).
It is not cheap to use nuclear energy to power a vessel, but using an offshore platform or vessel to house one or many micro nuclear power generators should be more economically and socially viable than building a station on land.
Syu Ying Kwok
[We may need nuclear power one day, but the problems are not quite ready to be solved. If a stop-gap measure is required today, then yes, buy a few nuclear-powered ships, dock them and run the power lines out to the grid. The issues of security we leave to the experts to propose.]
1 comment:
Update: Nuclear power plants today are much safer and better designed so nuclear accidents are almost impossible. If Singapore were to go with nuclear power, and it seems unavoidable in the future, it would be land based and probably a few micro plants.
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