re: #166 LudwigVanQuixote

I acknowledge that a 3rd or 4th gen reactor can be built in uch a way that it is physically impossible for it to break down. I acknowledge that if we are going to dismantle nuclear weapons, we can blend down their cores and make fuel pellets and start a partially renewable fuel cycle.

While I absolutely agree that nuclear reactors need to be treated with the greates respect, which is to say run on the Navy model and NOT the pure business model, it is possible to run them safely.

The second you start saying hot planet, I understand your concerns, but you are also coming from a place that is not overly familiar with present technology. It can be done correctly when not run by idiots. Most importantly, it can be vastly more idiot proofed today than it was in the 70’s

I worry about what happens to the safety record when the GOP gains power and “deregulates”. I worry about what happens when fuel goes “missing”. I worry about what happens when Met-Ed starts cutting corners like crazy to make a little extra cash. This cannot be trusted to the ‘free market’. This absolutely cannot EVER be allowed to be run with less regard for safety than money. One unlicenced dumping of waste could ruin a place for centuries, and poison thousands or millions.

This is the stuff that I think about when I think about the downsides of nuclear. The upside is of course enormous, but it still scares the ever-loving shit out of me.