Nuclear energy. A delicate matter

Italy is now in a confusing and chaotic discussion about nuclear energy, because of a law decree (2008-06-25) that allows the construction of new power plants based on nuclear fission technology.

But Italy decided, in 1987, to repeal the norms that gave the central government the power and the resources to select the location, decide about the "risk compensation" and allow the (at the time) public utility ENEL to invest in nuclear power plants abroad.

Now, we are going to vote (again) in a referendum, to repeal the new law decree.

Just after the new referendum proposition, a "Nuclear Forum" started an advertising campaign to promote the use of the forum, to discuss ideas, improve knowledge and increase awareness about the delicate matter of nuclear energy.
The nuclear forum (Italian) seemed to be a good idea, initially. But a recent decision of the self-disciplining committee of advertisment blocked the video, since it is factious and subtly oriented towards nuclear energy.

To make matters worse, the referendum is structured in a typical legalese way, with the result that if you DO NOT want nuclear power plants in Italy, you have to mark YES.

My opinion is to mark YES to this referendum, because I believe - no, I do not "believe", I assume the position, after evaluating several pros and cons, that nuclear power plants constitute an unbearable risk, and even the benefit-cost ratio is too low to consider the option.

I try to outline the facts here, I'll write some in-depth posts soon:

Issues (pros and cons and pros-that-actually-are-cons):
- Risks for power plant and waste management: impact evaluation is too "optimistic", root-cause analysis is shallow both in interrelation and time: long-term effects on nature and humans, disease. Even risks are not well identified
- Waste management: disposal and storage costs, in a long term
- Fissile material procurement and long-term scenario
- Economic development
- Energy independence
- Energy total cost
- Commissioning time and energy needs






References:
http://www.zonanucleare.com/questione_scorie_italia/referendum_nucleare_1987.htm

Technorati Tags: cernio,

Restart

I just decided to restart this blog. I keep old posts, although they are strictly adherent to one of my previous work experiences.
I keep them because this blog is going to be an archive of thoughts and ideas.
The main objective of this blog is, now, collect what caught my attention in a certain period, during the constant information overwhelming that happens to us.
Then, I will periodically refresh my memory with what I wrote. It' like watching an old photobook just to re-discover my past.

Technorati Tags: cernio,

Free/cheap web telephony?

Not much time to write on my blog these times, anyway: I found this interesting article on how to make free/cheap calls from web browser and I regret to notice that Sitòfono is not listed there.
But I guess this is due to the "free" model that has been considered: free calls that nobody pay, except the VoIP company holder of the free web telephony product.

BUT this is not a sustainable model, it needs to gather some revenue stream, which is not VC funding!

On the other hand, Sitofono is based on a more realistic revenue model: Sitofono is bought by companies/professionals who want to be reached from the web by various media channels (email, chat, voice call). Caller does not pay for the call, which is offered by the sponsoring company/professional.

Just one more point: one of the disadvantages of web call back model is the possibility of making call tricks or jokes to some victim. In this case, the offender puts the number of the victim in one of the boxes, and starts the call. The offender is not immediately recognizable, unless by asking the VoIP company who started the call.
There is no "perfect" answer to this, but one strategy is better than none :)