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This is why I love HN. A purely rational discussion with citations. Not even Reddit achieves this level of discourse. I live in New Zealand where many are extr

by pippy 15y ago

This is why I love HN. A purely rational discussion with citations. Not even Reddit achieves this level of discourse. I live in New Zealand where many are extremely anti-nuclear, almost to the point of ridiculousness. This causes massive problems: soured relations with United States (and other nuclear capable countries), high prices for electricity, and an arrogant perception on our environment. The last point is very important: dairy farms and coal mining are destroying the environment but kiwis still perceive themselves as 'clean and green'. 50% of our waterways are toxic. 28 Miners lost their lives digging for coal in one accident, yet there was no massive backlash against coal in New Zealand. If one person died in a nuclear power plant, there would be questions over the entire feasibility of nuclear power in multiple countries, which is ridiculous.

ekianjo 15y ago
Totally agree with your point. "Nuclear" has become a taboo, even in wording. When you go for a MRI, you know it stands for "Magnetic Resonance Imaging" (MRI), but the actual full name of the diagnostic tool is "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI)". Because the full name has the "N word" in it, it scares the hell out of people who have no understanding of Science whatsoever. Completely irrational.
woodson 15y ago
Well, considering the dangers presented by earthquakes (cf. Fukushima), maybe there are reasons for New Zealanders to be anti-nuclear: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquakes_in_New_Zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquakes_in_New_Zealand I know, a lot of different factors contributed to the outcome in Fukushima (e.g. power generators installed in the basement, which is flooded after a Tsunami. See http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/24-hours-at-fukushima/0 http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/24-hours-at-fukushim... for a good analysis). Still, one might argue that there are areas that are not quite suitable for building nuclear power plants.

by pippy 15y ago

ekianjo 15y ago

Totally agree with your point. "Nuclear" has become a taboo, even in wording. When you go for a MRI, you know it stands for "Magnetic Resonance Imaging" (MRI), but the actual full name of the diagnostic tool is "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI)". Because the full name has the "N word" in it, it scares the hell out of people who have no understanding of Science whatsoever. Completely irrational.

woodson 15y ago

Well, considering the dangers presented by earthquakes (cf. Fukushima), maybe there are reasons for New Zealanders to be anti-nuclear: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquakes_in_New_Zealand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquakes_in_New_Zealand I know, a lot of different factors contributed to the outcome in Fukushima (e.g. power generators installed in the basement, which is flooded after a Tsunami. See http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/24-hours-at-fukushima/0 http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/nuclear/24-hours-at-fukushim... for a good analysis). Still, one might argue that there are areas that are not quite suitable for building nuclear power plants.