3 ms·

Suppose the drum broke. How many people would die?

• wordupmaking 9y ago
  Supposed people who otherwise seem very interested in nuclear energy discussed this as the interesting puzzle it is. How many would die? Apparently, all of them. Hence my comment, though its point seems to have escaped you. My concern isn't primarily nuclear radiation, my concern is the weakness of people who weren't even exposed to a lot of it.
• dredmorbius 9y ago
  It depends on what's in the drum, now doesn't it. Now, what was the actual problem encountered at the site? And howw would you go about determining that a benign vs. concerning situation had transpired?
• Retric 9y ago
  99.9% of the time, none. They are stored in a bunker far from people. A large part of why nuclear power is so expensive is because safety is considered so important. It's hard to get good numbers, but chances are more people have died constructing reactors and mining / refining ore etc. than from nuclear accidents. The difference is simply what people are less concerned when a heavy object falls on someone else.
  • Teknoman117 9y ago
    And how many people have died inhaling fumes from coal fired plants and mining coal?
    • vilhelm_s 9y ago
      In 2010 it was around 13,200 deaths/year from particulate emissions[1]. This is actually a big improvement, stricter regulations brought it down from 30,000 deaths/year in 2000 [2]. I should say that these numbers are surely not exact, there are big uncertainties both in the atmospheric modelling (how far the particles propagate) and in how dangerous the exposure is. But it's probably the right order of magnitude, there is a different report from the National Academy of Sciences in 2010 which arrived at a similar (but slightly lower) number [3]. The deaths from particulate emissions are not even necessarily the biggest problem with coal: if you price out the externalities, the cost of climate change (from CO₂ emissions) is the biggest item [4]. [1] http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/view/138 http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/view/138 [2] http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/view/8 http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/view/8 [3] http://www.ourenergypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/hidden.pdf http://www.ourenergypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/hi... [4] http://xhxhxhx.tumblr.com/post/157192261427/alright-two-important-corrections-first-the http://xhxhxhx.tumblr.com/post/157192261427/alright-two-impo...
• vilhelm_s 9y ago
  A drum did break, that's what the article is about.
  • wbl 9y ago
    And 0 people died.