Monday 26 September 2005

Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk


A generation have grown up quite happily with this beauty as their neighbour.

Says the British Energy website:
With an output capability of 1200MW the station is capable of supplying around 2 million households.... Over the course of its ten year life Sizewell B has made some significant environmental savings. By using nuclear power instead of a fossil fuel mix Sizewell B has saved the following waste products... and avoided the consumption of a significant quantity of valuable gas:

CO2 avoided 56.6 million tonnes
SO2 avoided 333 thousand tonnes
NOx avoided 142 thousand tonnes
Fly ash avoided 2.45 million tonnes
Gas avoided 9.9 billion m3
No wonder some environmentalists are 'going nuclear.' And as a fan of industrial architecture I think it looks good. The one thing that strikes you on visiting is how peaceful it all is.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stillwell is far prettier than the Wolf Creek Reactor in Burlington Kansas. Producing 1165 MWe this Westinghouse Four-Loop Generator has been producing electricity (20% of that used in Kansas) for 20 years without accident.

The Wolf Creek lake provides cooling water for the reactor and is used as a popular spot for local recreational fishermen. The adjoining nature reserve is alive with bird-song and other assorted wildlife - including some very fiesty Mosquitos, to which I can personally attest.

Funny, there was more insect and birdlife next to this nuclear reactor than I've seen in NZ forests just after the "conservation" department had completed yet another 1080 carpet bombing campaign...

Could it be that the Greenies haven't got a fucking clue what they are talking about?

Peter Cresswell said...

Size well is much better looking than that picture you sent me, and has the added advantage that I've walked around, through and around and about it.

As you suggest about Wolf Creek, the thing that struck me was the complete peace around the plant. The adjoining nature reserve is also alive with bird-song and other assorted wildlife, the adjoining beach is used by all sorts of punters -- indeed, some good friends had a holiday house just up the beach for several years -- and the plant itself just ... sits there. Peacefully. Even inside there's no noise or urgency. It's an amazing place to visit.

Deadman said...

Peter - Broken link for the environmentalists going nuclear. I was intrigued. What's the URL?

Peter Cresswell said...

Bugger. Thanks Mark. Fixed now.

http://pc.blogspot.com/2005/04/religionists-for-nuclear.html