Great post from Robert at ProNuclear Democrats Blog… go read the whole thing, but here’s a snippet:
I heard the USS Carl Vinson is being sent to Port-au-Prince to supply humanitarian aid and fresh water. The desalination capabilities of the aircraft carrier was briefly mentioned but no other details given beyond that which is completely understandable. News agencies are not interested in boring their audience with technical diversions and that’s why this is a perfectly good opportunity for this blog to remind everyone the USS Carl Vinson is a nuclear powered ship and uses that power source to desalinate about 400,000 gallons of sea water a day.
USS Carl Vinson
Haiti needs more water than this on a daily basis in this emergency situation but this vital supply of fresh water would otherwise be extremely logistically difficult without a transportable desalination plant like the Carl Vinson. Additionally, the energy to process this water would be extremely voluminous if done with oil and require constant resupply – yet another logistical challenge. However, with a nuclear power source, the fuel supply is extremely compact and lasts for years, it makes the logistical problem that would exist with a fossil fuel source disappear completely. There is no other power solution that can do a better job of bringing fresh water in this situation.
Tweet TAGS: News, Nuclear Power Plants
Posted in: News, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power Plants | 2 Comments»
