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The crucial difference is that people consent to get on a plane. There are quite a few people who are afraid of flying, so afraid that they refuse to fly. That

The crucial difference is that people consent to get on a plane. There are quite a few people who are afraid of flying, so afraid that they refuse to fly. That’s of course their prerogative. The problem with nuclear power stations is that when they have serious accidents they don’t just affect the people who wanted to build them, they affect everybody, including the people who didn’t want them to be built, and even people in neighboring countries who didn’t even get a vote on it - depending on which way the wind blows. So the nuclear power station has to be built as safely as the most fearful person demands.

troupo 3y ago
> The problem with nuclear power stations is that when they have serious accidents they don’t just affect the people who wanted to build them, they affect everybody Why do we keep building hydroelectric plants (and dams in general)? Why do we keep building coal plants which are more radioactive than niclear plants, and are often located in densely populated areas? Why don't you apply the same logic to other things?
- Gwypaas 3y ago
  We are not? We are building renewables where the risks all come from the people working on the equipment. Fitting the analogy of airline safety nicely.
XorNot 3y ago
And yet nobody consented to climate change. I certainly didn't. They also don't consent to PM2.5 from uncovered coal trains running through residential areas. Nobody consents to being downstream of a hydroelectric dam...
- zarzavat 3y ago
  I wasn’t saying that we can’t have nuclear power at all. I was saying that we can’t nuclear power that is as risky as aviation. If that makes nuclear unviable, then so be it. Getting on an aircraft involves taking a risk. You may die. People die every year because they boarded an aircraft. The risk is small, but it’s not zero. We are okay with people taking this risk because they chose to do it. For nuclear power, small is not good enough, the risk of a serious incident such as Chernobyl has to be effectively zero. This is very expensive. Hydroelectric is not really comparable, if you are not happy living downstream of a hydro plant then you can move somewhere else. Nuclear fails in unpredictable ways. When Chernobyl happened, the whole of Europe held its breath to see which way the fallout would blow. The only way to escape the risk is heavy regulation or bans.

troupo 3y ago

> The problem with nuclear power stations is that when they have serious accidents they don’t just affect the people who wanted to build them, they affect everybody Why do we keep building hydroelectric plants (and dams in general)? Why do we keep building coal plants which are more radioactive than niclear plants, and are often located in densely populated areas? Why don't you apply the same logic to other things?

Gwypaas 3y ago
We are not? We are building renewables where the risks all come from the people working on the equipment. Fitting the analogy of airline safety nicely.

XorNot 3y ago

And yet nobody consented to climate change. I certainly didn't. They also don't consent to PM2.5 from uncovered coal trains running through residential areas. Nobody consents to being downstream of a hydroelectric dam...

zarzavat 3y ago
I wasn’t saying that we can’t have nuclear power at all. I was saying that we can’t nuclear power that is as risky as aviation. If that makes nuclear unviable, then so be it. Getting on an aircraft involves taking a risk. You may die. People die every year because they boarded an aircraft. The risk is small, but it’s not zero. We are okay with people taking this risk because they chose to do it. For nuclear power, small is not good enough, the risk of a serious incident such as Chernobyl has to be effectively zero. This is very expensive. Hydroelectric is not really comparable, if you are not happy living downstream of a hydro plant then you can move somewhere else. Nuclear fails in unpredictable ways. When Chernobyl happened, the whole of Europe held its breath to see which way the fallout would blow. The only way to escape the risk is heavy regulation or bans.