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>I don't suddenly get sick from pollution from coal power. Lung cancer isn't a "sudden sickness"? Hundreds of thousands of people a year are estimated to die

>I don't suddenly get sick from pollution from coal power. Lung cancer isn't a "sudden sickness"? Hundreds of thousands of people a year are estimated to die from air pollution. Nuclear has killed far fewer over its entire existence, and it would be almost none without the criminal Chernobyl reactor design. People are terrible at understanding risk, but very good at being influenced by propaganda. Anti-nuclear propaganda has been very effective. I'm encouraged by the innovation around Gen 4 modular reactors. I think they'll end up being successful, pervasive, and cheap. ThorCon in particular looks strong.

EricE 7y ago
>People are terrible at understanding risk, but very good at being influenced by propaganda. Anti-nuclear propaganda has been very effective. Exactly! The money quote in this entire thread.
- tekkk 7y ago
  And I want just add here, as a short sidenote: It's very unfortunate Chernobyl accident happened and how it happened. Some random experiment running in an ancient Soviet nuclear plant, in the middle of the night for no good reason. Considering Soviet work culture and the most dangerous technology on the planet, I guess there was always a distinct possibility. Yet to cause such mayhem, and even better get spread out mixed with burning graphene's ashes across the Europe was really a major score for any anti-nuclear opinion from there on to I guess eternity. I agree on lot of the points on both sides, but once feelings get in the way, it's very hard to say anything to convince the other party. I'm pro-nuclear as long as it remains as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. If renewables get to a point where they can support all energy needs in every location on earth, great. Let's do that instead. But I don't really feel that much fear about nuclear power than a lot of these anti-nuclear folks. Maybe I'm just dumb, maybe I should fear. But it just seems so far-fetched, if it's maintained properly.

EricE 7y ago

>People are terrible at understanding risk, but very good at being influenced by propaganda. Anti-nuclear propaganda has been very effective. Exactly! The money quote in this entire thread.

tekkk 7y ago
And I want just add here, as a short sidenote: It's very unfortunate Chernobyl accident happened and how it happened. Some random experiment running in an ancient Soviet nuclear plant, in the middle of the night for no good reason. Considering Soviet work culture and the most dangerous technology on the planet, I guess there was always a distinct possibility. Yet to cause such mayhem, and even better get spread out mixed with burning graphene's ashes across the Europe was really a major score for any anti-nuclear opinion from there on to I guess eternity. I agree on lot of the points on both sides, but once feelings get in the way, it's very hard to say anything to convince the other party. I'm pro-nuclear as long as it remains as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. If renewables get to a point where they can support all energy needs in every location on earth, great. Let's do that instead. But I don't really feel that much fear about nuclear power than a lot of these anti-nuclear folks. Maybe I'm just dumb, maybe I should fear. But it just seems so far-fetched, if it's maintained properly.