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That didn't seem right, so I looked up nuclear exclusion zones -- those things are huge! [1] https://cdn.britannica.com/s:800x1000/00/196800-050-E30A2B4A/Map-e

That didn't seem right, so I looked up nuclear exclusion zones -- those things are huge! [1] https://cdn.britannica.com/s:800x1000/00/196800-050-E30A2B4A/Map-exclusion-zones-accidents-Chernobyl-Fukushima-Japan.jpg https://cdn.britannica.com/s:800x1000/00/196800-050-E30A2B4A...

fulafel 6y ago
I think the exclusion zones estabilished after NPP accidents may be different from the exclusion areas as designed as safety precautions (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part100/part100-0011.html https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part100/p...).
vidarh 6y ago
They are huge, but they're also rare, and excessive. Especially for Chernobyl the exclusion zone includes vast areas no more radioactive than, say, Denver or other high altitude cities, and people kept working at Chernobyl (several of the reactors remained operational) for many years, and people have kept living within the exclusion zones. It was probably the right thing to set it as big as it was given we didn't know better at the time, but if anything Chernobyl has shown that the effects are far less severe than feared.
- politician 6y ago
  Yeah, but per the Musk quote, I bet you really could pack enough solar panels into the Chernobyl exclusion zone to overtake the power produced by the plant itself.
  - vidarh 6y ago
    Quite possibly. But that is the only plant in the world with an exclusion zone that big, so it doesn't generalize. As such it's meaningless. It's likely to remain the only one with an exclusion zone that big given what we have learned about how low the lethality of Chernobyl was.
    - natch 5y ago
      I don’t think the quote was talking about post-accident Chernobyl though.
jsight 6y ago
I think this is a more realistic example. Note the proximity of houses: https://goo.gl/maps/GJQYr8yg6EYxSmZeA https://goo.gl/maps/GJQYr8yg6EYxSmZeA

fulafel 6y ago

I think the exclusion zones estabilished after NPP accidents may be different from the exclusion areas as designed as safety precautions (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part100/part100-0011.html https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part100/p...).

vidarh 6y ago

They are huge, but they're also rare, and excessive. Especially for Chernobyl the exclusion zone includes vast areas no more radioactive than, say, Denver or other high altitude cities, and people kept working at Chernobyl (several of the reactors remained operational) for many years, and people have kept living within the exclusion zones. It was probably the right thing to set it as big as it was given we didn't know better at the time, but if anything Chernobyl has shown that the effects are far less severe than feared.

politician 6y ago
Yeah, but per the Musk quote, I bet you really could pack enough solar panels into the Chernobyl exclusion zone to overtake the power produced by the plant itself.
- vidarh 6y ago
  Quite possibly. But that is the only plant in the world with an exclusion zone that big, so it doesn't generalize. As such it's meaningless. It's likely to remain the only one with an exclusion zone that big given what we have learned about how low the lethality of Chernobyl was.
  - natch 5y ago
    I don’t think the quote was talking about post-accident Chernobyl though.

jsight 6y ago

I think this is a more realistic example. Note the proximity of houses: https://goo.gl/maps/GJQYr8yg6EYxSmZeA https://goo.gl/maps/GJQYr8yg6EYxSmZeA