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I really hate how irrational green groups are on nuclear power generation. And how much the media stokes irrational fears about nuke plants. There were no deat
by spangry 10y ago
I really hate how irrational green groups are on nuclear power generation. And how much the media stokes irrational fears about nuke plants.
There were no deaths directly attributable to radiation exposure (although 300 Tepco workers were exposed to above lifetime legal limit radiation). WHO estimated life time risk of thyroid cancer for infants in the immediate area increased by 0.5 per cent, relying on the linear no threshold hypothesis (an untested hypothesis that the UN has recently backed away from).
More generally, the IPCC calculated nuclear fission to be the second safest form of power generation in human morbidity and mortality terms end to end, mining to waste disposal (the first being hydro electric). The stupidity of the German decision makes me want to scream.
- whyever 10y agoWhile Fukushima did not claim lifes, it made a huge area uninhabitable. The public has to suffer the damages, not the company that profited from the plant.
- douche 10y agoLast time I checked, Germany has infinitesimally small chances of being struck by tsunamis.
- patall 10y agoTsunamis yes. But unfortunatly, quite a few studies have proven that the german nuclear reactors are susceptible to earth quakes, terrorists and floods. With almost no precautions taken, the big energy companies have noone to blame but themself.
- kuschku 10y agoYet, a nuclear plant, at a river that frequently floods in autumn, with not-working emergency generators, is in quite a risky position, don’t you think? It’s about the same risky position Fukushima was in. And most German plants are like that. Then add the fact that German inspections are a corrupt business regarding nuclear plants, and that the nuclear waste storage was a huge disaster polluting tap water for a large area, and you can see where the problems come from.
- spangry 10y agoHey I'm not saying that's right. All I'm saying is that responding to Fukushima by shutting down the second safest form of energy production (according to the IPCC), which also happens to emit no CO2, is a special kind of stupid.
- ArkyBeagle 10y agoSite selection turns out to be pretty important for nuke plants.
- kuschku 10y agoThe germany decision is not at all stupid once you read up on the Asse II nuclear waste storage site (or, a more fitting name, Asse II ground water contamination site). One of our largest nuclear waste storages, and it’s all leaking into the ground water.
- spangry 10y agoI read the Wikipedia page but didn't get a great deal of information. From what I gathered, they decided to use a structurally/mechanically unsound abandoned salt mine as an 'experimental waste dump', and now there are concerns that if the mine floods, nuclear waste byproducts will get into the ground water? You're probably more acquainted with the issue so perhaps you can fill in the holes here? At any rate, shutting down all German nuke plants because of something like this is akin to shutting down all coal mines because someone held a BBQ and accidentally started a fire.
- crdoconnor 10y ago>I really hate how irrational green groups are on nuclear power generation It was Angela Merkel's decision. She's a physicist.