Russia signs deal with Venezuela to build a nuclear power plant

Link.

What does a nation like them need nuclear power for? They're loaded to the gills with more petroleum and natural gas than they can possibly use for over 50 years. (By then we might have discovered nuclear fusion or cheap fuel cells)

Is this gonna be another Iranian Nuclear Dispute only IN SOUTH AMERICA? Discuss.

What's the big deal? Maybe they want to sell their natural resources? Also, Oil and Natural Gas are not used to generate electricity. That would be coal. In any case nuclear power is hundreds of times more efficient then coal.

Besides, you don't hear Venezuela talking about how they want to wipe Argentina or something off the map.

I think "basic simple common sense points of resource management" might be the motivator.

Also to produce less pollution. Not that nuclear waste is much of a replacement...

Because Chavez needs nuclear weapons to cover his ass when he invades Colombia. He threatens to do this every other week or so.

edited 15th Oct '10 5:32:52 PM by DasAuto

I wouldn't expect anything less from the Russian government. Entire countries system is rotten to the core. I tend to equate "Russian politician" with "Mafia don + nationalism" in my mind.

Let me emphasise its not Russians I have anything against. Their system, if you could call it that, on the other hand...

Anyone care to disillusion me of this?

Interesting. If I were living in Columbia I wouldn't be very happy about this.

We did have an energy crisis earlier this year, with programed blackouts every day and everything.

Thing is its only one step from nuclear power to nuclear weapons... that is the question with this kind of deal. Once you unlock Pandoras Box, you can't lock it again.

EDIT: We don't have a trope for Pandoras Box? Shame...

edited 15th Oct '10 6:14:21 PM by GameChainsaw

Try Pandora Plea.

On the other hand, the typical line spouted by nations wanting nuclear power is: "What right do you have to deny us this when you have it yourselves?"

A VERY good question.

On the other hand, there are a lot of countries with NPPs and nobody accuses them of having these power plants for secret/furure nuclear weapons programs.

ninja'd

edited 15th Oct '10 6:20:44 PM by DasAuto

Let 'em have it. Not like we own the patent to them or anything.

All I can hope for is that they don't screw it up and end up doing some TMI or Chernobyl (especially that one, considering who is going to help construct it) or any other notable incident.

Its out of our hands anyway. The Russians will do what they see fit. They always have.

Interesting. If I were living in Columbia I wouldn't be very happy about this.

Not gonna happen.

All I can hope for is that they don't screw it up and end up doing some TMI or Chernobyl (especially that one, considering who is going to help construct it) or any other notable incident.

But this can happen. Likely.

Uhg. When are people going to forget about that fluke Chernobyl. It was a shitty soviet reactor. Nothing even happened at TMI.

Btw there is a big difference between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

Oh Gods, please no.

The energy crisis was due to a great lack of maintenance. I don't want to think of th problems this would have with a nuclear power plant.

Yep, nothing at all.

It was a shitty soviet reactor

And this will be shitty Venezuelan maintainance.

The RMBK-1000 was a rather poor design. Add in a bunch of short cuts in how the place was built and the fact that they did the test on the freaking nightshift, and... yeah.

edited 15th Oct '10 6:45:48 PM by pvtnum11

Hey, Three Mile Island has a happy ending! No one got deaded.

They got lucky: The containment vessle held in all the crap. Could've failed, and it would've been pretty screwed up.

Also, the USSR has a rather bad track record with their submarine reactors, so it's not just Chernobyl.

Yes lets dump water onto super heated LIQUID SODIUM! Three mile island was a fart in the wind. It could have failed but it didn't. We did our best to design something that wouldn't go Tango Uniform and it more or less worked.

The question is what kind of reaction would they build? If its a pebble bed reactor there is nothing to really worry about.

I trust Iran with nuclear power more then I trust Chavez or Russia.

edited 15th Oct '10 8:17:08 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Hell, make it a Thorium pebble bed and there won't be any problems.