Re:Why the Clean Tech Boom Went Bust
by InclinedPlane on Saturday January 21, 2012 @11:05PM
(#3495589)
The Chernobyl reactors were of a completely unsafe design. They had a positive void coefficient (which meant they got more reactive without coolant), and they had no reactor containment vessel. Then they were used in an incredibly risky experiment while overriding many safety measures.
The Fukushima Daiichi power plants used a half-century old design which was already scheduled for decommissioning and that was subjected to one of the most powerful natural disasters in all of human history.
Even so, nuclear power has yet to cause as many deaths as Hydro power or coal.
We can build better, safer reactors. We already do. The surest way to make sure we continue operating the least safe reactors is to put unnecessary roadblocks in the way of building new ones.
The Fukushima Daiichi power plants used a half-century old design which was already scheduled for decommissioning and that was subjected to one of the most powerful natural disasters in all of human history.
Even so, nuclear power has yet to cause as many deaths as Hydro power or coal.
We can build better, safer reactors. We already do. The surest way to make sure we continue operating the least safe reactors is to put unnecessary roadblocks in the way of building new ones.