this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Downvote me all you want but nuclear is not a long term solution. Short term at best.

It's relatively clean compared to fossil fuels but it has several critical flaws on the long term.

For starters, it produces extremely toxic waste which we have no idea how to get rid of besides burying it and forget about it. Everytime someone mentions this all we hear is "we can create x method to dispose of it cleanly". Right, but while we develop X method that shit keeps piling up. And when X method fails to work as we intended "oh, well, just keep bury it and lets start thinking about Y".

And the biggest problem is this. Nuclear is actually relatively safe since the security regulations are (or should) be very strict. But all it takes is one bad enough disaster. Disasters like Chernobyl had the potential to leave half of Europe inhabitable for centuries. But, hey, as long as the regulations are strict and we have equipment and procedures that manage the human error we would be fine, right? Not really. Murphy's law. The worst scenario will happen eventually. A obscure bug in the security systems, an unexpected natural disaster, war or terrorism. There's always a failure point. In other energy types, we can manage that risk. One very rare disaster is not enough to make it not worth it if the good outweights the bad. Not in nuclear energy. Only one disaster can be potentially catastrophic and outweight all the good it made for decades or even centuries.

On the long term it is just not worth it. On the short term...it's a gamble.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is probably the only thing that can really buy us time. Sure we cannot dispose of its waste currently, but it buys us time to find a way. We will find a way to solve the waste issue. Besides, the waste produced is actually quite little, and we do have great solutions for storage. As for your second point, Chernobyl could have been an even worse disaster indeed, but it is a plant built in a time when it was fashionable to built bigger and larger plants. Today, the strategy is to built the plants smaller, making the impact of such disaster also smaller.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It is probably the only thing that can really buy us time

That's the only way it would make sense as a solution. It's a gamble, but it's a risk worth taking in the short term. But that only works with already built reactors.

We will find a way to solve the waste issue

"we will", but we haven't. We're creating a problem now and leave the solution for later which is exactly what got us into this mess. Always kicking the can down the road.

Today, the strategy is to built the plants smaller, making the impact of such disaster also smaller.

Still potentially catastrophic in a perfect storm. Remember Chernobyl had multiple reactors (who kept functioning) after the disaster. That was only one. I don't think downsizing would solve the risk but I hope I'm mistaken. Remember how we went into panic when the Russians entered Chernobyl or whenever we see news about Zaporozhia?

We haven't seen yet the worst possible nuclear energy disaster. I fear we might not see many...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just to refute a simple statement for you, please stop spreading disinformation.

“we will”, but we haven’t. We’re creating a problem now and leave the solution for later which is exactly what got us into this mess. Always kicking the can down the road.

Nuclear waste is solved. Probably one of the most solved kinds of waste on the planet, unlike the waste your smartphone or pc will become in a few years.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

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