Re:Three Mile Island nuclear plant restart in Microsoft AI p...
by km144 on Friday September 20, 2024 @03:17PM
(#41604803)
For the explanation of hysteria: 1) Nuclear disasters are acute, traumatic events that can have drastic effects on health of people and ecosystems for generations 2) Nuclear power sounds like nuclear bombs and nuclear radiation, both of which are scary and resonate with long-held cultural fears of nuclear technology that have existed since the Cold War.
Basically, yes most fears of nuclear power are irrational. But that's part of the problem—even if nuclear power polluted in a manner similar to coal power and there wasn't the risk of acute disaster, I still think Americans would be quite wary of the technology purely due to cultural priors.
I never understood the hysteria of the anti-nuclear people. I mean, the stats are out there for everyone to verify. Even the worst nuclear disaster killed no more than 100 people[1]. Plus, the new generation of the nuclear reactor can auto shut down when the temperature keeps rising. As for the nuclear waste, we need just one football field to store all the waste even before the recycling, which can recoup 90% of the material.
I'm also aware of the argument that even one death is too many. But if we follow this argument, wouldn't we need to account for the deaths caused by the alternative energy source, like coal? And the death would be in the thousands, right? And why won't we protest that?
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_and_radiation_...