I’ve Moved!
November 20, 2008
So I’m sure that most people have noticed that the site has been offline for a few days. There’s a reason for that, which I will get to shortly. But first, let me just say this:
In fact, I am blogging at a new site I have just finished setting up: kennethhynek.net. A full explanation for the reasons behind the move can be found here
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That said, this is not the end of Time Immortal. My wife Grace has expressed interest in taking over blogging at this domain, and I am working to make sure that she gets set up here as soon as possible.
Also, my profound apologies for the modification to the site face; the move was not as seamless as I would have hoped, and many of the image files for this theme, and in the gallery, were corrupted during the course of their evacuation from my previous web host’s servers. Until such time as I have repaired them, I’ve put a clean-looking template in place of the previous one.
Update: for the purposes of further traffic shaping, new posts from kennethhynek.net will be excerpted below. Full articles can be read at the new blog.
Whitecourt is looking to build a nuclear plant
May 4, 2007
Pursuant to a previous entry from today, it would seem that a Calgary energy firm is planning to apply — in June of this year — to build a twin reactor nuclear power plant near the town of Whitecourt, Alberta. The primary purpose of the $6.2 billion, 2,220 MW facility would be to provide additional power to meet the energy demands of Alberta’s expanding oil and gas industrial sector.
And it’s about time, too.
Predictably, Alberta’s opposition parties — the Liberals and the NDP — are expressing (at best) reservations, if not a measure of genuine antipathy for the proposal; Kevin Taft is even blathering on about “letting the nuclear genie out of the bottle” or some such. Western Canada has needed a high-yield power generation option for decades already, and we should have built a nuclear generating station some time ago in all truth. One wonders what Mr. Taft would prefer be built…perhaps a couple more coal plants?
There’s an awful lot of scaremongering that goes on regarding nuclear power generation. True, accidents have happened in the past, but these are notable exceptions to the general trend of safe operation of reactors. Canada’s own nuclear track record is excellent, and our reactors are safe and efficient. Furthermore, nuclear plants produce no environmentally harmful emissions — only steam. Nuclear fuel can be recycled, for the most part, and it’s been show in recent months (with the discovery of naturally occurring fission reactors) that certain geological formations — which abound in mountainous terrain and (likely) in Canada’s own Shield Country — can serve as natural barriers, making the underground disposal of nuclear waste not only practical, but safe as well.
So here’s hoping that this project gets underway. It’d be great for Whitecourt, and great for Alberta as well.
