Re:Unfounded concerns about photovoltaic toxicity and waste ...
by matthewdgreen on Tuesday October 17, 2023 @07:34AM
(#37913393)
The fossil fuel industry in 2023 loves nuclear, mainly because the capital costs are so high it doesn't represent serious economic competition with cheap fossil sources. There is a theoretical world where we come to a political consensus, then build out nuclear to France-like levels with massive government spending and intervention. But this requires political consensus that the fossil fuel industry (correctly) recognizes is unlikely in most countries.
The major exception to the above rule is China, but even that (massive!) government-sponsored nuclear buildout is only expected to reach <18% of electricity generation by 2060. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-27/china-nuc...
The fossil fuel industry has a huge interest in spreading FUD around nuclear, and the few accidents have been maximally exploited to hamper the development of nuclear. All the while, it has been known full well that fossil fuels have devastating impact on air quality and climate. Air pollution from fossil fuels alone is estimated at killing >3 million people per year. A great many disasters involving oil and fossil fuels have occurred, killing many more millions.
Yet, we act like nuclear is the danger, but we're happy to accept burning fossil fuels in the midst of our societies and offer up millions of lives each year to satisfy the lords of the fossil fuel industry.