4 ms·
> Nuclear power is dirty. So is coal, oil, clear-cutting forests, and turning corn into fuel. They are not the same amount of dirty, not by a long shot. The re
by pjscott 15y ago
> Nuclear power is dirty. So is coal, oil, clear-cutting forests, and turning corn into fuel.
They are not the same amount of dirty, not by a long shot. The regulatory burden on nuclear power is psychotically out of proportion to its actual safety risk and environmental impact, and gives an unfair advantage to energy sources like coal and methane which are much dirtier and more dangerous. Beyond a certain point, safety regulations on nuclear power make us less safe. We're well past that point.
(Regarding pebble beds: China has an experimental pebble bed plant under construction. Each module consists of two 105 MWe reactors sharing the same turbomachinery for generating electricity. It looks like the plan is to get the manufacturing infrastructure working, get some operational experience actually running the things, and then start building more and possibly exporting them commercially to other countries.)