3 ms·
The vast majority of nuclear power plants were built before three mile island[1] and the accompanying increases in regulation. The point is, even the supposedly
by Manuel_D 4y ago
The vast majority of nuclear power plants were built before three mile island[1] and the accompanying increases in regulation. The point is, even the supposedly "unsafe" nuclear plants are still vastly safer than most energy sources.
You're correct about the infrastructure needs to construct pressure vessels. That's a large part of why nuclear plants were cheaper when built at scale during the 1960s and 70s. It's a lot easier for heavy industry to recoup the investment of building a heavy press if they have an order of 40 pressure vessels instead of 4.
1. Which, by the way, resulted in no radiation exposures or lasting exclusion zone.
- dicknuckle 4y agoWhat makes you say there weren't radiation exposures? Plenty of locals had radiation burns and lasting effects.
- saxonww 4y agoThis is probably not true. Most studies showed no significant increase in radioactivity at all outside the plant. Some very motivated anti-nuclear groups argued otherwise, but... I guess it depends on who you want to believe.
- ncmncm 4y ago
- clarionbell 4y agoYou don't happen to have a source for that would you?
- robertlagrant 4y agoThe effects on the population in the vicinity of Three Mile Island from radioactive releases measured during the accident, if any, will certainly be nonmeasurable and nondetectable. During the course of the accident, approximately 2.5 million curies of radioactive noble gases and 15 curies of radioiodines were released. These releases resulted in an average dose of 1.4 mrem to the approximately two million people in the site area. This average dose is less than 1 % of the annual dose from both natural background radiation and medical practice. The 1.4-mrem dose may also be compared to differences in annual doses in background radiation from living in a brick versus a frame house, an additional 14 mrem/yr; or living in the high altitude of Denver rather than in Harrisburg, an additional 80 mrem/yr. The effect of this total dose, averaged over the population in the site area, will be to produce between none and one additional fatal cancer, and between none and one and a half total (fatal and nonfatal) cancers, over the lifetime of the population. In comparison, approximately a half million cancers are expected to develop from all other sources during this same lifetime. I don't know if the previous commenter was saying all two million people in the area are black, but they do seem to be considered in this Three Mile Island Report volume 1[1], page 153. [1] https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5395798 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5395798 (PDF)
- ncmncm 4y agoIf you believe this, I have some land on the Big Island to sell you. Note the weasel wording "averaged over". Nobody had "averaged over" exposure. Instead, the people who were most exposed were most exposed.
- robertlagrant 4y agoIt would be good to see the data that supports, or at least clarifies, what you're saying.
- caterpi11ar 4y agoThank you for adding race baiting to this nuclear energy discussion, that's sure to cool tempers