X-Message-Number: 2087
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1993 12:43:59 MST
From: "Richard Schroeppel" <>
Subject: CRYONICS  Tucson electricity

Mostly to Brian Wowk:
I looked over my (Tucson) electric bill and was surprized to see only 8.25
cents/KWhr.  I think most of the power comes from a nuke near Phoenix, but
I haven't looked into it.  No clue on business rates.  The local electric
utility is either still in, or just out of, Chapter 11.  The power quality
is ok for motors, but you'll want backups for any electronics:  I've lost
two disks in two years.  Lightning is common during certain seasons; my
neighbor used to have a nice ham rig, until his antenna did double duty as
a lightning rod.  Other local drawbacks include surface flooding in some
places, ground termites, and a few weeks every year when the temperature
exceeds 110F.  (This might make storage of ethyl bromide a problem, if the
boiling point is 38C.  If I were a local health official, I'd want more
information about toxicity & leakage/explosion hazards if the cryo company
went bust or did a Nelson.  Tucson's feeling quite burned about a local
instance of the leaking gasoline storage tank problem, and the sensitivity
is high.)  I'd say the political climate here is more business friendly
than California, but cryo isn't exactly a major employer.  If you could
develop a customer base in the retiree population, you'd be way ahead.
Another downside to being out in the boonies is crazies:  There was that
Buddhist temple near Phoenix where everybody got shot.  (This is a risk
balancing problem - it might still be safer than cities.  Is your foam
flammable?  Is EtBr?)
My personal opinion is that political considerations have more influence
on cost than electricity, so I'd check out the locals before making any
cost commitments.  You might want the facility to be disassemblable
in case the politics shifts gradually negative; having a salable building
might be prudent.  [Re: Making a Stand.  If I had my druthers, I'd have
an emergency plan for moving everybody.  If wishes were Space Shuttles ...]
You should be able to look at the age & health of the current Alcor
membership and form an actuarial estimate of suspension rate; don't build
too much overcapacity.
I'm uneasy about moving the LN2 patients to -130C.  Get some expert opinions.
(Moving the LN2 dewars into -130C would be *some* saving, until your room
filled up.  You might be able to develop some split-temp storage, with the
LN2 dewar boiloff helping to cool the -130C room.)
Are you thinking about selling the dewars to the other guys?  They might
be useful in some place where cryonics is just getting started.
You might want to look into Colossal Cave, with a year-round temp of 68F.
And there are lots of abandoned mines.  [I think you've settled on EtBr
too fast, and should explore mixtures.  They'd let you set your melting
point at exactly -129.5C or whatever, with tiny fluctuations.  Somebody
who knows materials should work out the effect of jillions of teensy
temp cycles on stressed glass.  Is it really a don't care?]

Rich Schroeppel  


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