Michael Sauers

January 5, 2025

One of the huge negative aspects of artificial intelligence and crypto currency is that they require intensive amounts of energy, consequently increasing our carbon footprint. Beggars can’t be choosers so these two endeavors will use whatever energy source is available as the race for profits never ceases. Like drunken sailors they use fossil fuel, solar, wind, hydro, geo-thermal and even nuclear energy.

Both of these phenomena are primarily driven by the profit motive regardless of other pronouncements. They have the potential to substantially change civilization as we know it. 99.9% of people on Earth asked for either of these. As always, that does not matter. This progress will be foisted on everyone with little or no debate. This will be the subject of a future post.

This post is about nuclear energy. Think Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. All nuclear disasters that utilized state of the art technology. They released large sums of radioactive materials into water, air and soil. Naturally, these releases are and will effect cancer rates worldwide. Add this to other sources of radiation and you have a problem. Unfortunately, because there are so many cancer causing pollutants in our water, air, soil and food, it is impossible to point specifically to any one or several sources.

A relatively small group of thinkers, mostly boomers, stood up to this. They had a limited amount of success. Nuclear power in the United States was slowed simply because it is so expensive to build a nuke plant. The industry received/receives enormous amounts of corporate welfare and they charge ratepayers a pretty penny to recover costs and make money for their investors.

Aside from the above problems and schemes, nuclear energy has one huge problem. It produces nuclear waste that remains toxic for hundreds/thousands of years. There is no federal nuclear waste depository. Nobody wants it and you can’t blame them. Most nuclear waste is stored on site although some does escape into the environment. YIKES! The industry foists this waste expense onto ratepayers and taxpayers. They say it is safe for the moment. It is out of reach of terrorists. Tell that to the people of Ukraine whose nuke plant is being bombed by the Russians.

The cheerleaders for nuclear energy are ecstatic about AI and Crypto. They have managed to extend the lives of several nuke plants that were scheduled for decommissioning. Decommissioning is expensive but nuke plants do age and can become a safety problem. That is why they are timed out!

Well, as always, money talks and everything else walks. Stay tuned. There may be a nuke plant coming to a neighborhood near you.