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> I can imagine that the consequence of this might actually just be strengthening the "barrier" the magma has to erupt through, and when it finally builds up en

> I can imagine that the consequence of this might actually just be strengthening the "barrier" the magma has to erupt through, and when it finally builds up enough energy to do that, it'll be stronger in proportion to how strong the newly cooled down barrier had become? Certainly the movie version has the one rogue scientist working late into the night redoing the calculations and realizing that as soon as the plant goes live it will trigger the volcano. In real life, I have no idea how this kind of thing gets analyzed, and what kind of uncertainty is involved. It feels a bit like those "put a bunch of reflectors in space to stop climate change" ideas. On the other hand, removing energy from a system seems like a good way to make it safer...

macintux 3y ago
> Certainly the movie version has the one rogue scientist working late into the night redoing the calculations and realizing that as soon as the plant goes live it will trigger the volcano. Jor El in any number of them.
its_ethan 3y ago
> In real life, I have no idea how this kind of thing gets analyzed, and what kind of uncertainty is involved. This is similar to what I was trying to get across -- how do we know something this complicated will have only the intended effect that the author is describing? The comparison to reflectors in space to address climate concerns is a great one - something where a first pass/ back of the envelope makes it seem interesting, but any amount of detail added reveals that we'd have no clue what would happen
marcosdumay 3y ago
> On the other hand, removing energy from a system seems like a good way to make it safer... Nope, that one rule of thumb can't help you. There is way too much energy for that to make any difference. Just notice how the timescale of an active disaster is completely different from the ones estimated for success.

macintux 3y ago

> Certainly the movie version has the one rogue scientist working late into the night redoing the calculations and realizing that as soon as the plant goes live it will trigger the volcano. Jor El in any number of them.

its_ethan 3y ago

> In real life, I have no idea how this kind of thing gets analyzed, and what kind of uncertainty is involved. This is similar to what I was trying to get across -- how do we know something this complicated will have only the intended effect that the author is describing? The comparison to reflectors in space to address climate concerns is a great one - something where a first pass/ back of the envelope makes it seem interesting, but any amount of detail added reveals that we'd have no clue what would happen

marcosdumay 3y ago

> On the other hand, removing energy from a system seems like a good way to make it safer... Nope, that one rule of thumb can't help you. There is way too much energy for that to make any difference. Just notice how the timescale of an active disaster is completely different from the ones estimated for success.