4 ms·

Older, less advanced reactor run by a democratic country is safer than modern more advanced reactor run by what is basically a dictatorship.

xyzzyz 6y ago
RBMK is not simply “less advanced” design, it is dangerously unsafe.
- cbmuser 6y ago
  Exactly.
paganel 6y ago
We'd need to have prove for that, afaik the reactor at Fukushima was not old and Japan is a strong democracy.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  I'd argue that Chernobyl, which was basically a man-made disaster that stemmed from a drill, is quite fundamentally different from getting hit by the fourth highest magnitude earthquake known to man.
  - paganel 6y ago
    > which was basically a man-made disaster So the man-made disaster consisted in allowing to build something like this in an area where there are earthquakes so big.
    - watt 6y ago
      For me, the man-made disaster is the amount of dirty coal the Germany burns, after shutting down their nuclear power plants. And from pressure by the Greens, no less! Man made disaster is the prices for electricity we pay in Germany, while France is happy generating nuclear power and pays 30% less.
      - natmaka 6y ago
        France is not so "happy" with nuclear. A state law (2015-992, from 2015, the "loi relative à la transition énergétique pour la croissance verte") states that the part of nuke-produced electricity must fall to less than 50% in 2025, from 72% then, and that renewables must replace it. In France nuke-power is backed by gas (which produced 10,3% of gridpower in 2017). The sole reactor currently planned (Flamanville-3) is a complete disaster, more than 10 years behind schedule and 4x overbudget. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plan...
- rmind 6y ago
  Even for a strong democracy it is tough to sustain the blow of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by tsunami. And no, reactors/technology in Fukushima were not new, they were from 1960s.
- eldaisfish 6y ago
  >afaik the reactor at Fukushima was not old That's not true. All of Fukushima reactors were constructed before Chernobyl's reactors. Fukushima's reactors are based on a 50's design by GE/Westinghouse. They are very old to the point where they could be labelled ancient.

xyzzyz 6y ago

RBMK is not simply “less advanced” design, it is dangerously unsafe.

cbmuser 6y ago
Exactly.

paganel 6y ago

We'd need to have prove for that, afaik the reactor at Fukushima was not old and Japan is a strong democracy.

Hamuko 6y ago
I'd argue that Chernobyl, which was basically a man-made disaster that stemmed from a drill, is quite fundamentally different from getting hit by the fourth highest magnitude earthquake known to man.
- paganel 6y ago
  > which was basically a man-made disaster So the man-made disaster consisted in allowing to build something like this in an area where there are earthquakes so big.
  - watt 6y ago
    For me, the man-made disaster is the amount of dirty coal the Germany burns, after shutting down their nuclear power plants. And from pressure by the Greens, no less! Man made disaster is the prices for electricity we pay in Germany, while France is happy generating nuclear power and pays 30% less.
    - natmaka 6y ago
      France is not so "happy" with nuclear. A state law (2015-992, from 2015, the "loi relative à la transition énergétique pour la croissance verte") states that the part of nuke-produced electricity must fall to less than 50% in 2025, from 72% then, and that renewables must replace it. In France nuke-power is backed by gas (which produced 10,3% of gridpower in 2017). The sole reactor currently planned (Flamanville-3) is a complete disaster, more than 10 years behind schedule and 4x overbudget. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plan...
rmind 6y ago
Even for a strong democracy it is tough to sustain the blow of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by tsunami. And no, reactors/technology in Fukushima were not new, they were from 1960s.
eldaisfish 6y ago
>afaik the reactor at Fukushima was not old That's not true. All of Fukushima reactors were constructed before Chernobyl's reactors. Fukushima's reactors are based on a 50's design by GE/Westinghouse. They are very old to the point where they could be labelled ancient.