[LMB] "Civilization isn't just electricity."

[James Nicoll]

On Thu, 7 Feb 2008, Meg Justus wrote:

> Dams can be highly environmentally destructive.  Look at Three Rivers Gorge
> in China.  For that matter look at Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park in
> California.

 	Say, why hasn't the Grand Canyon been exploited for its 
hydroelectric potential? It's just a big hole in the ground.

> Megaera
> feeling a bit hypocritical at the moment while typing this on a computer
> powered by mostly hydroelectric power
>
 	As an Ontarian, half of the electricity I use comes from cracking 
atoms. Even better, they all depend on research my father and a grad 
student did (as do a surprising number of North American reactors) on two 
phase flow, which really surprised me when I found out.

 	I remember the giddy fun that followed after someone in the 
Ontario government decided to ask his opinion on the Inver Huron heavy 
water plant without bothering to find out first if he was the sort of 
expert who takes direction. The answer they wanted was "Yes, perfectly 
safe," whereas he thought that under the right conditions the plant could 
kill everyone in the park in less than an hour.