Atom gates

After the well-known problems at the Fukushima reactor in Japan, a large part of the public, for obvious reasons, again began to skeptically consider the idea of ​​nuclear power plants. But not Bill Gates.

Speaking yesterday at the Wired business conference in New York, he began to talk about the advantages of the "atom", in particular - building the next generation of reactors. As he says himself: “The consequences are exaggerated.” “If you compare the number of victims from the leakage of nuclear waste with how many people die from each kilowatt-hour of a coal-fired power plant, you will understand that the difference is enormous.” Despite this, he agrees that when some serious catastrophe occurs, the consequences of the atom are much more serious. “Coal kills fewer people at a time — and that's why politicians like it so much.”

The replicas of Bill Gates in this section are interesting, first of all, because his words do not disagree with the case, and if to be completely accurate, then with the wallet. Today, when Gates is involved in investments, he and his friend Nathan Myrhvold are closely involved with the start-up Terrapower - just what promises to bring the principles of building nuclear reactors to a qualitatively new level, where production waste will be measured in thousandths, compared to how much an average nuclear power plant produces today.

This is not to mention the fact that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of companies that received money from Gates. All of them are engaged in energy, in today's popular areas, ranging from solar panels, and ending with biofuels.
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“The IQ level of people working in the energy sector today and the tools they possess are simply not comparable to what they were 20 years ago. And nevertheless - we cannot assume where exactly the breakthrough will occur ”.

The sun, and the wind, have great potential, but unfortunately are too dependent on energy sources. This is the reason why Gates is so aggressive about nuclear policy. He rightly states that "progress in energy is necessary for the normal functioning of the economy and its progressive movement." Who would argue. Adding to the joke that the atom today has only three problems: “It’s expensive, it’s difficult, and you can destroy the entire planet at any time. Otherwise, everything is OK. "

Price is a key point in which new types of fuel can compete with existing ones. “We become careless,” says Gates, “because we can pay a little more for solar or wind energy. But in order to achieve the effect, the cost of this energy must be comparable to the price of hydrocarbons. Energy is bought where the economy is built on it (which, by the way, is not so obvious, but very logical), and we must help the rest of the world to get energy at a reasonable price. ”

How about the idea of ​​smart homes, where each roof generates as much electricity as people in it need? “This is a beautiful idea,” commented Gates, “but this will never happen.” Large power plants, such as solar fields in the desert, are needed. "If you want beauty and elegance, climb to the roof of the house, if you want solar energy to be the solution to the energy problem, go to the desert."

via TC