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Historically, coal-fired power plants have been much more dangerous for humans than nuclear power plants. I think the record shows that nuclear power is on the
by ANH 16y ago
Historically, coal-fired power plants have been much more dangerous for humans than nuclear power plants. I think the record shows that nuclear power is on the whole pretty safe.
Regarding proof: I don't think anything has been proven, yet, except that there have been a lot of powerful forces at work with this disaster.
- hop 16y agoYes, in history. But that turns an eye to black swan events of mass proportion that only nuclear power is capable of.
- ANH 16y agoOnly nuclear power? What about the BP oil spill? Exxon Valdez? Coal slurry wiping out homes in West Virginia?
- hop 16y agoCaesium-137 has a 30 year half life. If that blew into Tokyo, the city would be uninhabitable for 200 years - just like Chernobyl.
- sho_hn 16y agoThat said, there have been some pretty nasty events associated with coal as well, which are however surprisingly unknown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_sludge_spill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_sludge_spill Doesn't compare to the potential consequences of a nuclear incident, but it's quite possible to build and mishandle crappy coal infrastructure, too.
- memetichazard 16y agoSo, coal is the car, and nuclear power is the airplane.