4 ms·

I think it's because there are several unsolved problems with nuclear, and they're nowhere near being solved. In an imperfect world, which is what we live in,

I think it's because there are several unsolved problems with nuclear, and they're nowhere near being solved. In an imperfect world, which is what we live in, you're guaranteed huge disasters like Chernobyl happening. In case you are not aware, areas in a radius of hundreds of kilometers all around Chernobyl are still affected by it, and will continue to be for hundreds of years.

bilekas 5y ago
I did think we learnt from that situation though, if not fair enough.
- forgotmypw17 5y ago
  Sure, we learned from it. But have we learned enough to prevent future accidents? Probably not. And do we have any solutions for storing existing processed waste? Nope.
fy20 5y ago
I was under the impression that modern reactors have much safer designs that would make a repeat of that much less likely, and then slightly different tech like molten salt reactors completely prevent meltdowns. That still doesn't prevent leaks like Fukashima though, but that has had a very small impact so far, that I'd be tempted to even call negligible - especially if you compare it to the problems pollution causes from lignite plants.
- forgotmypw17 5y ago
  Fukushima's impact is only beginning, as remediation is still ongoing, and the resources for remediation (room in the tanks for storing contaminated water) are running out this year. By the way, what's the point of comparing Fukushima to something else terrible? >A screening program a year later in 2012 found that more than a third (36%) of children in Fukushima Prefecture have abnormal growths in their thyroid glands. I think that's hardly comparable to coal.
  - dzikimarian 5y ago
    Indeed hardly comparable. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/reliance-on-coal-linked-with-lung-cancer-incidence/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/reliance-... Coal is much bigger killer, just too slow to make for good news story.
  - morelisp 5y ago
    > By the way, what's the point of comparing Fukushima to something else terrible? Because in Germany the concrete choice 10-15 years ago was between developing nuclear, or burning lignite now and importing gas from oligarchies later. These were the only two options on table which were politically and technically feasible. (And then Fukushima made nuclear no longer politically feasible. And now it's also too late to be technically feasible.)
  - morelisp 5y ago
    > A screening program a year later in 2012 found that more than a third (36%) of children in Fukushima Prefecture have abnormal growths in their thyroid glands. As an aside, what is the base rate? In all the reporting on this number I've not been able to find it. (Only that the base rate among adults is around 50%, which may or may not be comparable.)
- max002 5y ago
  About molten salt. I love idea, but we will have soon just 1st one right? Or is it already operational? Btw. 660 bill on clean up thats nowhere to be done is big impact.
ArtWomb 5y ago
I wonder if there was anything in Europe comparable to the 1970s cultural backlash in the US with movies like Silkwood, China Syndrome, etc. It's not the Atom people feared, but Man. Hasty push to profits, led to rushed designs, accidents, black op coverups, etc. A real and true accounting of the Nuclear History of the World is perhaps too secret to ever be told ;)

bilekas 5y ago

I did think we learnt from that situation though, if not fair enough.

forgotmypw17 5y ago
Sure, we learned from it. But have we learned enough to prevent future accidents? Probably not. And do we have any solutions for storing existing processed waste? Nope.

fy20 5y ago

I was under the impression that modern reactors have much safer designs that would make a repeat of that much less likely, and then slightly different tech like molten salt reactors completely prevent meltdowns. That still doesn't prevent leaks like Fukashima though, but that has had a very small impact so far, that I'd be tempted to even call negligible - especially if you compare it to the problems pollution causes from lignite plants.

forgotmypw17 5y ago
Fukushima's impact is only beginning, as remediation is still ongoing, and the resources for remediation (room in the tanks for storing contaminated water) are running out this year. By the way, what's the point of comparing Fukushima to something else terrible? >A screening program a year later in 2012 found that more than a third (36%) of children in Fukushima Prefecture have abnormal growths in their thyroid glands. I think that's hardly comparable to coal.
- dzikimarian 5y ago
  Indeed hardly comparable. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/reliance-on-coal-linked-with-lung-cancer-incidence/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/reliance-... Coal is much bigger killer, just too slow to make for good news story.
- morelisp 5y ago
  > By the way, what's the point of comparing Fukushima to something else terrible? Because in Germany the concrete choice 10-15 years ago was between developing nuclear, or burning lignite now and importing gas from oligarchies later. These were the only two options on table which were politically and technically feasible. (And then Fukushima made nuclear no longer politically feasible. And now it's also too late to be technically feasible.)
- morelisp 5y ago
  > A screening program a year later in 2012 found that more than a third (36%) of children in Fukushima Prefecture have abnormal growths in their thyroid glands. As an aside, what is the base rate? In all the reporting on this number I've not been able to find it. (Only that the base rate among adults is around 50%, which may or may not be comparable.)
max002 5y ago
About molten salt. I love idea, but we will have soon just 1st one right? Or is it already operational? Btw. 660 bill on clean up thats nowhere to be done is big impact.

ArtWomb 5y ago

I wonder if there was anything in Europe comparable to the 1970s cultural backlash in the US with movies like Silkwood, China Syndrome, etc. It's not the Atom people feared, but Man. Hasty push to profits, led to rushed designs, accidents, black op coverups, etc. A real and true accounting of the Nuclear History of the World is perhaps too secret to ever be told ;)