3 ms·

This is a largely a historic and legislation problem. Nothing about nuclear technology itself makes it impossible as a business. I suspect this is political pr

by sqeaky 10y ago

This is a largely a historic and legislation problem. Nothing about nuclear technology itself makes it impossible as a business. I suspect this is political problem because there are powerful oil interests. I also think people are so afraid of radiation that they demand countless inspections, fees and other costly regulation. If every energy field got this level of scrutiny then coal mines would be safe, coal plants wouldn't emit more radiation than nuke plants and carbon sequestration would be a thing or we would be using nuclear. The costs would be double or triple what they are now though.

rdtsc 10y ago
In a rational world. But we don't live in such a world. After the Cold War, its ties with bombs and nuclear proliferation, Chernobyl, Fukushima,Chelyabinsk-65 incident in the late 50s, dirty bombs scare after 9/11 people are suspicious of nuclear. They would prefer something more dangerous but predictable like coal instead.
jessaustin 10y ago
Nuclear power didn't even pay for itself back in the 1950s when e.g. the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant with its horrendous safety and environmental record was in its heyday. Valves and pipes constantly ruptured, workers were routinely exposed to precipitating clouds of uranium hexaflouride (the burns are worse than the radiation), and most workers were never issued radiation badges. Somehow the safety manuals from the Manhattan Project a decade before were misplaced on the way to Paducah? Maybe the nuclear physicists in Alamogordo were just better-informed than hillbillies in western Kentucky? Incidentally the Paducah plant's mammoth power requirements were supplied by TVA coal. Paducah and other sites like it eventually prompted Congress to pass the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Externalities!

3 ms·

This is a largely a historic and legislation problem. Nothing about nuclear technology itself makes it impossible as a business. I suspect this is political pr

by sqeaky 10y ago

rdtsc 10y ago
In a rational world. But we don't live in such a world. After the Cold War, its ties with bombs and nuclear proliferation, Chernobyl, Fukushima,Chelyabinsk-65 incident in the late 50s, dirty bombs scare after 9/11 people are suspicious of nuclear. They would prefer something more dangerous but predictable like coal instead.
jessaustin 10y ago
Nuclear power didn't even pay for itself back in the 1950s when e.g. the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant with its horrendous safety and environmental record was in its heyday. Valves and pipes constantly ruptured, workers were routinely exposed to precipitating clouds of uranium hexaflouride (the burns are worse than the radiation), and most workers were never issued radiation badges. Somehow the safety manuals from the Manhattan Project a decade before were misplaced on the way to Paducah? Maybe the nuclear physicists in Alamogordo were just better-informed than hillbillies in western Kentucky? Incidentally the Paducah plant's mammoth power requirements were supplied by TVA coal. Paducah and other sites like it eventually prompted Congress to pass the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Externalities!