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When France made the switch from oil to nuclear as main way of producing electricity, this question was raised and researched. The chosen solution was to sweep

When France made the switch from oil to nuclear as main way of producing electricity, this question was raised and researched. The chosen solution was to sweep it under a rug and hope no one will notice. At the same time, the choice of getting into nuclear was on conditions, one being that we had to find a way to deal with nuclear waste asap. Decades later this is still an issue but this point went off radar and is drowned in falsified reports or recycling nuclear fuel (an investigation turned out that nuclear waste is sent undercover in eastern europe to be stored indefinitely, still better than the previous "use it as a land filler for roads and schools"). I'd be happy to learn about this ample objective direct evidence, but AFAIK in the most developed nuclear energy country in the world, word is that it is not worth it and this has been known for decades, just don't let the people know and hope nothing happens during our lifetime / stay in office.

mzw_mzw 10y ago
"At the same time, the choice of getting into nuclear was on conditions, one being that we had to find a way to deal with nuclear waste asap. Decades later this is still an issue" The only reason it's still an issue is because of anti-nuclear politicking deliberately blocking any efforts to resolve the issue. See, for example, Yucca Mountain in the United States.
Iv 10y ago
OK. 1. The most catastrophic power plant disaster in France was the barrage de Malpasset, a hydroelectric dam, killing 423. Hydro power is, globally, the most directly lethal energy. Indirectly, I think oil and coal fight for the claim: coal mines claimed a lot of lives and oil caused a lot of geopolitical conflicts. Nuclear is better in terms both of direct and indirect deaths. 2. Nuclear byproducts are not wastes, they are fuels we are not using yet. Superphénix was a power plant that used plutonium as a fuel. It was part of the "plutonium economy" plan envisioned by France when it dared to dream big. If we had followed it through, it would have resulted in France being paid to receive nuclear fuel that other countries count as waste. It failed because ecologists attacked superphénix with RPG (yes, really) and made it a negotiation token to join Jospin's government. They also routinely attack nuclear recycling plants as they do not want a clean nuclear infrastructure, they want this infrastructure to not exist. 3. "nuclear waste" is a very broad category. Most of the media reports about it being used or stored in various ways is usually hyped up for fearmongering. Check the radiation levels of "waste" mentioned in the news. Sometimes (dare I say, very often?) it is on the scale of background radiation level. 4. I bet that in a few decades we will mine up back our geological waste storage to use the wastes as fuel.

mzw_mzw 10y ago

"At the same time, the choice of getting into nuclear was on conditions, one being that we had to find a way to deal with nuclear waste asap. Decades later this is still an issue" The only reason it's still an issue is because of anti-nuclear politicking deliberately blocking any efforts to resolve the issue. See, for example, Yucca Mountain in the United States.

Iv 10y ago

OK. 1. The most catastrophic power plant disaster in France was the barrage de Malpasset, a hydroelectric dam, killing 423. Hydro power is, globally, the most directly lethal energy. Indirectly, I think oil and coal fight for the claim: coal mines claimed a lot of lives and oil caused a lot of geopolitical conflicts. Nuclear is better in terms both of direct and indirect deaths. 2. Nuclear byproducts are not wastes, they are fuels we are not using yet. Superphénix was a power plant that used plutonium as a fuel. It was part of the "plutonium economy" plan envisioned by France when it dared to dream big. If we had followed it through, it would have resulted in France being paid to receive nuclear fuel that other countries count as waste. It failed because ecologists attacked superphénix with RPG (yes, really) and made it a negotiation token to join Jospin's government. They also routinely attack nuclear recycling plants as they do not want a clean nuclear infrastructure, they want this infrastructure to not exist. 3. "nuclear waste" is a very broad category. Most of the media reports about it being used or stored in various ways is usually hyped up for fearmongering. Check the radiation levels of "waste" mentioned in the news. Sometimes (dare I say, very often?) it is on the scale of background radiation level. 4. I bet that in a few decades we will mine up back our geological waste storage to use the wastes as fuel.