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Word on the street is, bananas leak more radiation than functioning nuclear power plants. I dont think I would trust one in my home, given flood risks and all,

Word on the street is, bananas leak more radiation than functioning nuclear power plants. I dont think I would trust one in my home, given flood risks and all, but a megawatt power plant for the neighborhood wouldn't be amiss.

AussieWog93 5y ago
>bananas leak more radiation than functioning nuclear power plants. Keyword there is "functioning". I believe GP's point is that the public can't be trusted to maintain household-scale nuclear reactors to the same level of safety that large-scale operators with competent staff and chains of responsibility can.
- zdragnar 5y ago
  Yes, the processes would be different. A misfunctioning gas furnace will kill everyone from CO poisoning, and wood fireplaces are even more dangerous. Surely an in-home reactor would require safeties of an appropriate degree. Perhaps those would make in-home nuclear infeasible, I wouldn't know. With a bit of careful planning, any given house could easily take out half a city block or more given someone with intent to cause harm, though, and without knowing the actual amount of radioactive material in any given in-hime reactor, I couldn't begin to compare. Edit: this is why I am a whimsical commenter on the internet and not the person in charge of whether or not we give redneck engineers nuclear reactors.
  - 542354234235 5y ago
    I think household reactors are beyond the cutoff point for diminishing returns and/or risk vs reward. I feel like neighborhood level reactors disguised as small houses, like some electrical sub stations [1] would be the sweet spot. You could cut down a lot on all the infrastructure needed to push all that power from centrally located power plants out to neighborhoods, while still maintaining a separate, inspectable, controlled station. [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/article/neighborhood-transformers-inside-torontos-stealthy-house-shaped-substations/ https://99percentinvisible.org/article/neighborhood-transfor...
legulere 5y ago
Talking about how harmless radioactivity is with the radioactivity of bananas is as unscientific as talking about growing a third arm because of radioactivity. No matter how many bananas you eat, your radiation exposure will stay the same as your body keeps the amount of potassium constant. Grave nuclear accidents probably happen every few decades and more smaller reactors will make that just more likely.

AussieWog93 5y ago

>bananas leak more radiation than functioning nuclear power plants. Keyword there is "functioning". I believe GP's point is that the public can't be trusted to maintain household-scale nuclear reactors to the same level of safety that large-scale operators with competent staff and chains of responsibility can.

zdragnar 5y ago
Yes, the processes would be different. A misfunctioning gas furnace will kill everyone from CO poisoning, and wood fireplaces are even more dangerous. Surely an in-home reactor would require safeties of an appropriate degree. Perhaps those would make in-home nuclear infeasible, I wouldn't know. With a bit of careful planning, any given house could easily take out half a city block or more given someone with intent to cause harm, though, and without knowing the actual amount of radioactive material in any given in-hime reactor, I couldn't begin to compare. Edit: this is why I am a whimsical commenter on the internet and not the person in charge of whether or not we give redneck engineers nuclear reactors.
- 542354234235 5y ago
  I think household reactors are beyond the cutoff point for diminishing returns and/or risk vs reward. I feel like neighborhood level reactors disguised as small houses, like some electrical sub stations [1] would be the sweet spot. You could cut down a lot on all the infrastructure needed to push all that power from centrally located power plants out to neighborhoods, while still maintaining a separate, inspectable, controlled station. [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/article/neighborhood-transformers-inside-torontos-stealthy-house-shaped-substations/ https://99percentinvisible.org/article/neighborhood-transfor...

legulere 5y ago

Talking about how harmless radioactivity is with the radioactivity of bananas is as unscientific as talking about growing a third arm because of radioactivity. No matter how many bananas you eat, your radiation exposure will stay the same as your body keeps the amount of potassium constant. Grave nuclear accidents probably happen every few decades and more smaller reactors will make that just more likely.