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We absolutely should have a healthy fear and respect for nuclear power. I’m personally for it to provide a baseline load for other renewables. But let’s not pr
by sgillen 6y ago
We absolutely should have a healthy fear and respect for nuclear power. I’m personally for it to provide a baseline load for other renewables.
But let’s not pretend like there are no risks anymore. Although in a theoretical setting we have reactor designs that are safe, in practice plants can be mismanaged and unexpected disasters can strike. People also thought Chernobyl and Fukushima were safe before they weren’t, and the price for getting it wrong is so high.
One thing I’d like to know is why there isn’t more research into thorium reactors, when I looked into some years ago it seemed like a much safer technology, so I was missing the reason why it wasn’t getting nearly as much funding or attention.
- krupan 6y agoWe should have a healthy respect and fear of all forms of energy generation/harvest. Energy is, well, energetic! Everything we have done to produce and harness energy has been dangerous to people, plants, and animals. Stating that nuclear energy is dangerous is just stating a tautology. The interesting discussion is about the trade-offs relative to other energy sources.
- rbanffy 6y agoI think my PV panels are pretty safe.
- krupan 6y agoYou could kill someone with the output of the inverters very easily. Also, the ones that are placed over "bare land" have killed life that was there on that land before the panels stole the energy that used to hit the land there. That's not to mention what it took to gather materials, manufacture, and transport the panels.
- rbanffy 6y ago> Also, the ones that are placed over "bare land" have killed life that was there on that land before the panels stole the energy that used to hit the land there. There's also evidence that the shade they provide reduced loss of water in a similar way as trees would.
- discordance 6y agoAddressing your first point, microinverters don't push out high voltages and are safer than having a single string inverter.
- sjwright 6y agoNot for the person who installed them.
- olkid 6y agoSame. I learned about thorium reactors a few years back from Kirk Sorensen. Purportedly, thorium is safer, readily available, and produces less radioative waste. "Kirk currently serves as the President and Chief Technologist at Flibe Energy..."[1] 1) https://flibe-energy.com/about-us/ https://flibe-energy.com/about-us/
- acidburnNSA 6y agoThorium is a fine breeder fuel but is not quite everything the internet would have you think. See this thorium myths page https://whatisnuclear.com/thorium-myths.html https://whatisnuclear.com/thorium-myths.html
- asdff 6y agoI don't think it's healthy to fear what most don't care to attempt to understand.