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Chernobyl is the only nuclear disaster that makes me thing "hm, maybe really nobody should ever build nuclear power plants" and it occurred under a dictatorship

Chernobyl is the only nuclear disaster that makes me thing "hm, maybe really nobody should ever build nuclear power plants" and it occurred under a dictatorship. There have been significant disasters (Fukushima and Three Mile Island) under democracies but both of those are pretty tame compared to the ongoing harm wrought by coal and natural gas. Even if you just restrict it to direct health effects of their pollution vs. all negative health effects from Fukushima, at worst Fukushima over its lifetime likely cost fewer lives per megawatt-hour than an average coal plant. (Of course, things like solar and wind are still generally preferable, if you can store the power effectively.)

FDSGSG 6y ago
Essentially all Fukushima related deaths were caused by the evacuation, which many now consider to have been a mistake https://www.ft.com/content/000f864e-22ba-11e8-add1-0e8958b189ea https://www.ft.com/content/000f864e-22ba-11e8-add1-0e8958b18...
- sandworm101 6y ago
  While we can argue about the extent of the evacuation and the extended timeline for return to evacuated areas, the fact that there was an evacuation shouldn't be up for debate. When uncontrolled explosions happen to buildings holding nuclear reactors, regardless of the nature of those explosions, the immediate area should be evacuated.
  - roenxi 6y ago
    On what basis are you claiming that? In fully half of the INES level 7 the leading cause of death was the evacuation. Designed safety systems are really good. Evacuating should not be an unthinking decision.
    - corty 6y ago
      Fukushima ended with very little contamination over land due to the prevailing weather at the time. But if winds and rain hadn't cooperated as nicely, things would have been more serious. So I wouldn't say evacuations were pointless. However, keeping the area off limits for as long as they did was.
    - joshuamorton 6y ago
      > In fully half of the INES level 7 For anyone reading along here, this is drawn from a sample size of 2. (Fukushima and Chernobyl)
    - sandworm101 6y ago
      Because evacuations are not done on perfect hindsight. They are done with limited and often incorrect live information. When building are collapsing atop a reactor, when nobody knows for sure what is happening inside, it is only reasonable to start moving people away.
orbital-decay 6y ago
Chernobyl had RBMK, not VVER, that's the entire point GP is making. Reducing Chernobyl/Fukushima/TMI to the difference in political systems is derailing the conversation and ignores the actual causal chain of each event.

FDSGSG 6y ago

Essentially all Fukushima related deaths were caused by the evacuation, which many now consider to have been a mistake https://www.ft.com/content/000f864e-22ba-11e8-add1-0e8958b189ea https://www.ft.com/content/000f864e-22ba-11e8-add1-0e8958b18...

sandworm101 6y ago
While we can argue about the extent of the evacuation and the extended timeline for return to evacuated areas, the fact that there was an evacuation shouldn't be up for debate. When uncontrolled explosions happen to buildings holding nuclear reactors, regardless of the nature of those explosions, the immediate area should be evacuated.
- roenxi 6y ago
  On what basis are you claiming that? In fully half of the INES level 7 the leading cause of death was the evacuation. Designed safety systems are really good. Evacuating should not be an unthinking decision.
  - corty 6y ago
    Fukushima ended with very little contamination over land due to the prevailing weather at the time. But if winds and rain hadn't cooperated as nicely, things would have been more serious. So I wouldn't say evacuations were pointless. However, keeping the area off limits for as long as they did was.
  - joshuamorton 6y ago
    > In fully half of the INES level 7 For anyone reading along here, this is drawn from a sample size of 2. (Fukushima and Chernobyl)
  - sandworm101 6y ago
    Because evacuations are not done on perfect hindsight. They are done with limited and often incorrect live information. When building are collapsing atop a reactor, when nobody knows for sure what is happening inside, it is only reasonable to start moving people away.

orbital-decay 6y ago

Chernobyl had RBMK, not VVER, that's the entire point GP is making. Reducing Chernobyl/Fukushima/TMI to the difference in political systems is derailing the conversation and ignores the actual causal chain of each event.