5 ms·
> clean shift to a predominantly nuclear grid started closing in the 1980s. Our nuclear future was toast by April 1979 because of an extremely unfortunate coin
by letitbeirie 5y ago
> clean shift to a predominantly nuclear grid started closing in the 1980s.
Our nuclear future was toast by April 1979 because of an extremely unfortunate coincidence:
March 16, 1979: Premiere of the film The China Syndrome - the plot to which involves a near-miss at a nuclear power plant that could have "render[ed] an area the size of the state of Pennsylvania uninhabitable."
March 28, 1979: Three Mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania has a major meltdown that destroys one of its two units and releases a small amount of radioactive material into the surrounding environment.
- acdha 5y agoYes - TMI could have been an outlier but once it shaped public sentiment with little counter argument it’s become increasingly hard to go back. Regardless of whether or not nuclear would be functionally useful, I don’t think it’s productive to talk about it without focusing on the “… and here’s how any of this will actually reach production” discussion after decades of plans stalling or being cancelled. I don’t think everyone pushing it are motivated simply by its use as a distraction by the fossil fuel lobbyists but there’s definitely a tendency to focus on the engineering side rather than the hard but necessary approvals.
- koheripbal 5y agoIt's also important to remember that the Soviet Union actively supported the anti-nuclear movement in the US. ...also, none of the renewal energy proposals in the OP video are nearer to production. Indeed, most are still theoretical.