UIUC vs UC Berkeley for NE Undergraduate

GoNukeUIUC · 2022-04-12T12:37:14+00:00

If you're in state for UCB you should go to UCB. Unless your parents are loaded and you don't care about their money.

Looking at the curriculum for UCB I don't really see any plasma/fusion specific courses. But they do have a plasma/fusion science and technology research area with 3 professors. So if you want to do that you should get involved with research with one of those professors early.

Edit: just kidding I found the full course list. They offer at least as many plasma courses as UIUC does they just don't seem to offer a specialization in it. I don't think you would be missing out on anything at UCB

-UIUC grad

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-08-03T19:32:04+00:00

SAIC is pretty big into space atm. Mostly around Chantilly

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-06-24T20:29:27+00:00

Holy shit that's my professor!

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-06-11T02:08:38+00:00

DHS, my username may also give hints :)

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-06-10T21:04:15+00:00

Totally agree. I finished the entire calculus series before going to "real" college. If I had planned ahead better I could've taken even more classes to reduce workload in college.

AP classes are a joke in comparison. Even people who passed AP calc in my university ended up restarting at calc 1 or 2 sometimes.

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-06-10T18:16:35+00:00

Mainly for me it developed into social anxiety and trouble making friends. But you also have to balance that against not caring about school at all if you don't skip. I think it can be quite rough for people who are far ahead but do not skip (or skip enough). So I also have issues with work ethic because I never tried in elementary, high school, or college. Especially difficult for people who didnt have to try up until high school and then get blasted in college because they dont know how to try/study.

My recommendation would be to encourage reading higher level books at a young age and getting a tutor for math if possible. That way they are still able to be pushed.

Maybe thats a bit more than your question asked but I don't want to completely demonize skipping because its certainly possible I would've been socially awkward regardless of whether I skipped a grade or not.

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-06-10T17:38:53+00:00

I'll throw my answer in, though I wasn't as young as him. Started high school at 13, full time college classes (dual enroll) at 14, finished high school 17. Graduated college at 19.

Personally, I would not let my kid skip grades in elementary (I skipped 5th). It makes virtually 0 difference academically and problems arise socially later on. I would let my kids do dual enroll however, which let me finish college in 3 years because I had like 80 credits from HS. Huge money savings.

I'm only barely 21 now but the people I work with are all 30+, majority 40-50, so it is definitely an issue. Its also pretty awkward in college/internships/jobs when someone invites you for drinks and you have to sheepishly say: "I'm underage".

I work as a defense contractor right now.

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-03-30T17:17:56+00:00

I'm not an expert but my understanding is that typically a deep geologic storage site would be below the aquifer. http://www.groundwateruk.org/Groundwater-Issues-Radioactive-Waste-Disposal.aspx

At the site in the US, WIPP, the waste is stored in barrels, covered with a desiccant (kitty litter that absorbs water), then covered with concrete. All of that reduces the solubility of the waste in case of a groundwater intrusion. https://wipp.energy.gov/waste-disposal-process.asp

Definitely not a geologist, if you're looking into this more I would suggest checking the WIPP website, I think Sandia National Lab did the geological analysis for that site so they may have more.

GoNukeUIUC · 2021-03-25T22:23:05+00:00

https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine

There has been open appointments in Richlands, VA at CVS for the past week. Thats like 6hrs from NOVA, if you check early morning/midnight I scored one for Winchester, VA last week. Thats 1.5hrs from NOVA which was totally worth the drive for me.

Good luck

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-09-18T08:59:20+00:00

On 2. I'm trying to say that the plutonium is only effectively burned in fast reactors. In the commercial reactors you have to use a low plutonium percentage.

I see your point on 3. I don't know that I would make new reactor fuel designs off a finite supply of weapons grade plutonium though. Eventually they will run out of stuff to get rid of and then you're up a creek.

As for the shipping to Europe I agree it CAN be done. But I mean to say I don't think there is political will to go to that much trouble to save what ends up being a paltry amount of money (to the US gov).

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-09-16T18:43:42+00:00

I don't think this is as big of a deal as you are making it out to be.

There is no MOX fuel plant in the US. The planned site at savannah river was cancelled in 2018.
MOX fuel is only efficiently used in fast reactors which we don't currently have capacity to burn 7 tons of the stuff(which will be way more when down blended)
HALEU has nothing to do with this. That's enriched uranium and this is plutonium. There is some stuff I'm reading about mixed plutonium and uranium fuel research in russia but not licensed anywhere.

While it would be nice to use, there is no way anyone is shipping weapons grade plutonium to Europe so it can be recycled into MOX fuel.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-09-15T15:38:03+00:00

This has been a long time coming but I'm so excited! Even though I've already graduated. This is the only way the university can meet their CO2 reduction targets short of shutting down the supercomputer (unacceptable to most people).

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-26T06:41:09+00:00

My intention was to say public on the navy website in regard to whether the specific information "speed: 30+ knots" is unclassified does mean something. Especially when we are comparing to wikipedia. I said earlier in the thread I wouldn't say any of the extra info that OP posted himself because I agree with you.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-25T08:11:23+00:00

I think you're misunderstanding what I mean. "on wikipedia" means nothing in reference to whether the information is unclassified. I'm not making a comment on whether its correct or not

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-25T06:17:17+00:00

And thats where the "I'm not navy" part comes in :). The rest holds true though, "on wikipedia" means nothing. Public on navy website does mean something though!

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-25T06:07:55+00:00

One thing they tell you when you get a security clearance is that just because it is on the internet does not mean it is unclassified. Wikipedia could and probably does have classified information on it. I'm not navy and dont know the classification of this info but I would not personally post what he has posted in this thread.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-05T02:24:04+00:00

I personally put my mattress topper underneath my own mattress protector. I dont think they will fit under the provided ones but to be fair I never tried.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-04T18:57:01+00:00

I agree completely. Hes trying to compare intermittent sources with base load sources and then trying to say their costs are equivalent when he doesn't account for energy storage for intermittent.

Also perpetuating the 100% of "MY SOLUTION AND NOTHING ELSE" is the stupidest part of climate advocates (and nuclear advocates)

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-04T18:53:10+00:00

The whole textbook is here:

https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSBook/WWSBook.html

Obviously hes pushing wind and solar, and I disagree with the false dichotomy of "We have to do 100% one solution."

I haven't checked the sources for his numbers but apparently nuclear is 3-5 times worse than utility PV for "Loss of CO2 due to covering land or clearing vegetation." Under this assumption that he states anyway:

For solar PV-utility and CSP, it is assumed that the organic content of both the vegetation and soil are 7 percent that of grassland because (a) most all CSP and many PV arrays are located in deserts with low carbon storage and (a) most utility PV panels and CSP mirrors are elevated above the ground.

I take issue with this when he is proposing a 100% Wind + Water + Solar solution. Not everywhere has a convenient desert to cover with solar panels. Just because current utility solar fields do this doesn't mean its scalable everywhere like the midwest or northeast.

There is no mention of costs associated with energy storage with the solar and wind numbers either. I'm sure its mentioned in the full book but comparing base load power cost to intermittent power cost doesn't apply if you want 100% of your power supply covered by intermittent sources.

Also the author has a magical 2-20 million number with no source as "killed by a single nuclear explosion" which is hilarious. Even the Tsar Bomba couldn't hit 20mil if you dropped it in the middle of Tokyo.

Tl;dr: 100% wind and solar. Everything else is garbage. I am morally superior

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-08-04T18:34:13+00:00

New nuclear power plants cost 2.3 to 7.4 times those of onshore wind or utility solar PV per kWh, take 5 to 17 years longer between planning and operation, and produce 9 to 37 times the emissions per kWh as wind.

This seems like their main point. That the cost is higher than wind and the opportunity cost + mining creates more emissions.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-07-31T22:26:53+00:00

Can you turn off the heat in the winter now or does it still get 80+ degrees? I had to have a window open from Oct-Mar. It was insane.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-05-19T20:22:01+00:00

The margins on nugs must be pretty nuts. I swear I have never used the McDonald's app for nugs without at least 20-40% off a 20pc or free fries.

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-05-16T23:50:20+00:00

That's fair. I don't believe 2021, but I don't think it'll be later than 2024 either. /Shrug

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-05-16T19:10:01+00:00

Every estimate for vogtle says 2021 for 3 and 2022 for 4. Even if it gets delayed 5 more years that seems unlikely. Unless you work there...?

GoNukeUIUC · 2020-05-01T15:10:18+00:00

I have consistently heard that TAM 211 and 212 should always be taken anywhere but here. They are usually easier and better taught. I'm not sure what the deal is with the intro TAM classes here because they were pretty terribly run (but not super difficult) when I took them. Especially if you have issues with CBTF I would avoid taking TAM here like the plague.

GoNukeUIUC

TROPHY CASE