Quote:
Originally Posted by Cmike2780
^^ You left out the part about radioactive waste and the possibility of a meltdown. Considering what happened to Japan, one should never be complacent. Yes, there are other ways to die, but look at Chernobyl and honestly tell me there are no risk. I'm not saying Nuclear plants should be shut down, I just don't think its the end all solution. It's "safe" because there has to be zero margin for error. I don't care how good the technicians are who work on these reactors, that simply isn't possible. That's why there are failsafes. What worries people is the possibility of something catastrophic occurring that was not taken into consideration. If something like that happens, then what? only 10 people died, maybe 100, 1000... That's hardly justifiable
|
From my understanding, and I am no expert and know very little about the whole system here in the US, but our nuclear power plants should have very little chance of experiencing the type of problems they had in Japan. And I am meaning from the flooding and the earthquake, not the tsunami. We actually had a "scare" earlier this year when the massive flooding was going on in the southeast part of the country (shortly after Japan) and people were afraid the plants would be flooded. They never did and life moved on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by b1adesofcha0s
Also there's not really a good way to deal with the nuclear waste. After it's used up in the plant, all we're really doing with it is burying it underground and hoping for the best. That material is still radioactive.
I'm not opposed to nuclear power, I actually support it. However, I don't think we should just rush into it. It should be well thought out and planned and all the necessary safety measures should be implemented. |
This is the beauty of some Thorium power plants. They can actually use and burn off our current stockiles of radioactive waste and produce next to none themselves. And they do not produce any weapons grade material so illegal proliferation is not a problem.
Also, we are currently up to the 4th generation of nuclear power plant design and what little bit I have read on them, they are quite safe. Not sure what we have here in the US but I think they are mostly 2nd generation plants. Once again, I'm not entirely certain on that last part. Pulling from memory and need to leave work so I'm not bothering to dig this up again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by b1adesofcha0s
Working at a chemical plant, I see how things can go horribly wrong because the operators did something stupid or forgot to do something he usually does. With a nuclear reactor, you want it to be absolutely idiot proof, which means adding a lot of security systems to make sure everything is ok in case of a failure.
|
Once again, back to Thorium power plants and maybe other types of plants can do this as well, but a Thorium plant with a salt dome built into the ceiling that melts above a certain temp can effectively shut itself down. I can try to find where I read this when I get home in a bit if you want.