god I really hate the western left being anti nuclear. it is safe, you just need actual regulation and long term management. they COULD be the backbone of a solid green energy grid. I hope the thorium reactors bring back that nuclear optimism
there has been very few big nuclear accidents. I trust most developed nations to run reactors. now the US, who the fuck knows with those lot, but most of the world I trust, even the cringe nations
Meh, it's a pittance compared to the trash fossil fuels generate. If the largest price of our energy providers is we have to dig a big hole in the middle of a desert somewhere and make it unlivable for a few thousand years then I think we can live with that.
I hate that the first thing everyone thinks with nuclear waste is "just dump it in a fragile ecosystem." Deserts may not support as much life as woodlands or fields, but they hold many unique species which live a very fragile existence. Why not carve out the inside of a mountain, a place nothing lives?
I was oversimplifying, but that is the general consensus for nuclear waste. You find a geologically stable mountain range in the middle of a desert where there's not a ton of wildlife to worry about and dig straight down a few hundred meters and slap a lead slab on top for good measure. Yucca Mountain is the archetypal one I had in mind.
Okay but I’d argue the design of Chernobyl was a fucking disaster to begin with. Soviet authorities were so confident a meltdown wouldn’t happen they just build a sheet metal shed around the reactor. If they had put a concrete sarcophaguses around the reactor Chernobyl wouldn’t have been much worse than three mile island.
yeah, ofc, but the entire system is founded upon that. I know about the uranium mining in the south west united states and all that. but, 'just don't have power' is really not going to sell anybody on a left project. and we need to change our power now not in 20 years after capitalism.
god I really hate the western left being anti nuclear. it is safe, you just need actual regulation and long term management. they COULD be the backbone of a solid green energy grid. I hope the thorium reactors bring back that nuclear optimism
Can you blame us? Which corporation or government entity do you trust to run the reactors?
there has been very few big nuclear accidents. I trust most developed nations to run reactors. now the US, who the fuck knows with those lot, but most of the world I trust, even the cringe nations
So far. And that ones that have occurred were devastating.
Reminder that nuclear waste lasts functionally forever. And nations don't.
And add on that nuclear plants are also not carbon neutral until having run for decades.
Which corporation or government entity do you trust to run
the reactorsanything?None when the profit motive is involved.
US Navy seems to handle it alright (that we know of, admittedly).
Yeah this is true. They don't operate the subs for profit though (at least not directly). The trillions of war bux gotta go somewhere.
In my head canon the U.S. nationalizes its energy infrastructure
:bloomer:
:copium:
Ok buddy tell me your bright and pragmatic idea
listen buddy, my ideas are the greatest and the best, believe me you me you.
They still don't have a clue what to do with the old reactors tho. There's a field of them in WA I think.
Meh, it's a pittance compared to the trash fossil fuels generate. If the largest price of our energy providers is we have to dig a big hole in the middle of a desert somewhere and make it unlivable for a few thousand years then I think we can live with that.
I hate that the first thing everyone thinks with nuclear waste is "just dump it in a fragile ecosystem." Deserts may not support as much life as woodlands or fields, but they hold many unique species which live a very fragile existence. Why not carve out the inside of a mountain, a place nothing lives?
I was oversimplifying, but that is the general consensus for nuclear waste. You find a geologically stable mountain range in the middle of a desert where there's not a ton of wildlife to worry about and dig straight down a few hundred meters and slap a lead slab on top for good measure. Yucca Mountain is the archetypal one I had in mind.
Yucca mountain is a shoshone sacred site and the colonists have no buisness dumping uranium there.
Well, shit. I had no idea, yeah fuck that then. There has to be another mountain that fits the criteria out there though.
Agreed.
I mean yeah but the biggest nuclear fuck up ever was under a centrally planned governments watch, so…
No, the biggest nuclear fuck up ever was when the capitalist American government dropped two nuclear bombs on civilian populations.
Biggest *civilian nuclear fuck up
More reactors involved in Fukushima and there's no way that we have an accurate, truthful account of the effects.
Okay but I’d argue the design of Chernobyl was a fucking disaster to begin with. Soviet authorities were so confident a meltdown wouldn’t happen they just build a sheet metal shed around the reactor. If they had put a concrete sarcophaguses around the reactor Chernobyl wouldn’t have been much worse than three mile island.
In the west like every other form of energy it's inseparable from some of the most egregious abuses of colonialism.
yeah, ofc, but the entire system is founded upon that. I know about the uranium mining in the south west united states and all that. but, 'just don't have power' is really not going to sell anybody on a left project. and we need to change our power now not in 20 years after capitalism.