As we saw in Article Six, there are numerous unresolved problems facing the U.S.A. if we want to
establish a reliable sustainable energy infrastructure on which to base-load a sustainable clean-green hydrogen economy capable
of supporting a $14Trillion U.S. Dollar per year economy.
Waiting in the wings presently is a type of thermonuclear fission powerplant technology that the U.K.
and Canadians use: HTGR that employs graphite material within the reactor chamber. The
U.S. has built only several of these reactors and they are sited, owned and operated by the U.S. Government, and not presently
in the possession of commercial utility companies. One reason for this is the intervening “Cold War” Years
and public opposition created by covert communist groups attempting to destroy America’s lifeblood of Her economy: thermonuclear
fission energy. The HTGR technology is employed successfully today in Canada,
the U.K. and in the U.S.A. The HTGR is an unforgiving technology that requires
strict preentive maintenance procedures even stricter operational safety protocols that must be observed at all times.
When these very strict protocols are not observed, for whatever reason, accidents ve occurred in
the last years of the "Cold War" when the Soviet U.S.S.R. was in great need of the economic cash to purchase the
preventive maintenance materials at the proscribed time to ensure safety in such plants, as the world
witnessed at Chernobyl in the U.S.S.R.
In the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada, there have never been any "events" or "accidents" or questionable operating mishaps
with this type of fission technology due to very strict protocols observed at all times. This technology is able to
deliver the desired 99% pure hydrogen in order to initiate the base-loading of a clean-green hydrogen-based economy.
In the U.S.A., more of this type of reactor would have to be built and kept within the venue of U.S. Government operation.
Asecond type of thermonuclear fission reactor currently available in the U.S.A. is known as a Fast
Breeder Reactor (or FBR). The U.S. was the very first nation to design and successfully
operate the 60MW(t) FBR plant located at Diablo Canyon, N.M. in 1946, named “Clemlentine”. However, at the Executive Order of President William J. Clinton, America had reduced its number of online
FBRs during his first term of office: 1990 – 1994. Since that time, American
thermonuclear engineers have improved upon the design of the FBR making the new design currently under construction
standardized, compact and more efficient.
Both technologies: HTGR and the FBR are capable of reaching the required 950°C. operating temperature
in order to split hydrogen from water molecules in a reliable, sustainable and economic fashion right now. With either of these two technologies, the U.S. could move out of the fossil-fuel-based economy and into
the clean-green hydrogen-based economy.
Both thermonuclear fission technologies: HTGR and FBR are capable of producing reliable base-loading
commercial electricity, or could be designed and constructed with the dedicated purpose of producing inexpensive, American-worker,
American-generated ≥99% pure hydrogen that would fuel the non-electricity generating transportation sectors of our economy.
The HTGR and FBR technologies should not be confused with the new standardized compact BWR and PWR thermonuclear fission technologies
being constructed and coming online for the production of commercial electricity during peak demand hours.
We will always need some natural gas and some petroleum oil because many manufacturing processes
such as styrofoam packaging and printing materials (inks and dyes) will continue to require these fossil fuels. We just won’t
be using petroleum oil and natural gas for powerplant technology or for fueling our passenger car, light truck SUV, municipal
bus, municipal fire and police vehicles, first-response emergency vehicles sectors of the economy as hydrogen gas, liquid,
or hydrogen-fuel cells will be able to perform that function. Diesel fuel may still be required for long-haul 16- and 18-wheeler
flat-bed and container trucks that supply the U.S. coast-to-coast with fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh milk and other food
staples, manufactured items such as steel girders and beams and new construction equipment.
NASA uses frozen liquid hydrogen to constantly fuel the U.S. Space Program shuttles to distant
planets. Presently, both marine and aviation sectors of the transportation industry
are conducting R&D efforts to develop methodologies by which to utilize liquid hydrogen as an alternative clean-green
fuel in order to clean up and preserve environmental resources without further fossil fuel toxic contamination. Several large commercial jet-engine manufacturers, AirBus and Boeing in particular, are looking at liquid hydrogen as a fuel intercontinental commercial jets as a way to combat environmental
destruction by the commercial airline industry. The major automakers have been
looking at ways to implement both hydrogen gas, liquid and hydrogen fuel-cells for passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks. Several manufacturers in Canada, together Heliocentosis and Ballard have developed
and have been employing a hydrogen fuel-cell capable of a day’s travel for municipal buses: 250-mile range without refueling.
In view of everyone’s excitement in anticipation of creating many more new “green”
jobs by bringing on the “Green Economy”, an intriguing notion which caught everyone’s excitement and no
doubt helped the decision-taking of many Americans in the November 2008 national election. Present scientific and engineering
intelligence with technological assets are available right now if we go thermonuclear with dedicated HTGR or FBR plants, which
would be sited, designed and constructed by U.S. Government employees, physicists and engineers.
Distribution of the hydrogen could be piped subterranean off the U.S. Government property to distribution
centers where non-government employees could proceed with the next phase of distribution, packaging and transport to the end-use
terminals. The benefits being creating many new clean-green jobs and a vehicle for America’s conversion to a clean-green
economy.
From this initiative, the reliable and sustainable manufacture of adequate quantities of hydrogen
in all forms necessary to support a clean-green hydrogen-based economy could be planned for in conjunction with the planning
for, materials engineering, design and construction, manufacture of steel piping and conduit, reinforced American-made steel
tanks to hold and transport the hydrogen gas and/or liquid hydrogen manufactured by U.S. steel companies, putting back to
work some displaced U.S. steel workers and reviving some of America’s dormant or otherwise underutilized steel manufacturing
facilities.
A new reinforced steel pipeline system would have to be planned for: designed, excavated,
built and implemented contingent upon the foregoing design-build efforts.
Many other types of highly-skilled jobs as well as non-skilled
jobs involved in this new clean-green economy would also open up such as heli-arc and highly trained sweat-welders trained
to work in the thermonuclear energy field, architects, engineers, scientists, materials engineers, nuclear engineers, the
high-quality specially manufactured metals and miscellaneous metals that form the many joints and connecting members and parts of the actual
reactor chamber equipment., truck drivers, dock personnel, maintenance personnel.
In coordination with the manufacture of either hydrogen pipeline and/or pumping stations similar
to gasoline filling stations, hydrogen fuel-cell stations, hydrogen re-fill fuel-cell stations and liquid hydrogen filling
stations would also have to be worked into a national infrastructure schematic so that the major automakers could plan their
engine and model production assemblies in advance, being reassured that the required hydrogen infrastructure would be available
on a specified date to match their premier hydrogen-car unveiling date.
Yes, it could all be done and it could be done, now. But
it would have to begin with some true ingenuity and independence of leadership in the White House together with a true desire
of the 111th U.S. Congress to make a clean-green economy happen so as to fulfill the expressed wishes and desires
of the American general electorate in the November 2008 national election. Both
the Executive and the Legislative Branches of U.S. Government would have to put aside the tremendous lobbying power of the
cash-rich American Petroleum Oil and Gas Institutes.
Presently, the price of oil and gas have been lowered and
the two commodities are readily available. America would be well served should we begin the conversion to the clean-green
economy and make serious infrastructure plans utlizing this interim vehicle to supply the required megawattage of electricity
in order to produce the hydrogen necessary to support our new clean-green economy and put all Americans back to work!
For more information on how we can be a better United States of America with a fully-employed general
electorate and growing economy, see
FUSION ENERGY ~ THE PUBLIC’S GUIDE VOLUME III America’s Power Production: Responding
To The Crisis, seminars, education materials: books, films, video and lecture presentations.
Author: Diane A. Davis, Founder and CEO
The International Institute For Thermonuclear Fusion Energy Education, R&D, Regulation, Technology And
Public Policy, Inc.
