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Nuclear Power - Pros and Cons

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MajorTom Since: Dec, 2009
#151: Mar 18th 2011 at 11:27:28 AM

^ Don't people die when they are killed? Why aren't you dead?

On-topic about radiation from nuclear plants:

Does anyone actually realize how low a dosage you can expect from plant meltdowns like in Japan? Or worse fail to account for radioactive decay as if it were not a constant process?

For example most of Pripyat is actually inhabitable radiation wise by now. The high energy stuff that kills you has long since decayed heavily. You know the unstable isotopes whose half-lives are measured in minutes to hours and at most days?

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#152: Mar 18th 2011 at 11:30:05 AM

I was under the impression that we can expect cancer rates in Japan in the immediate area to raise by percentage points over the next thirty point. PERCENTAGE POINTS!

Which, you know, is still hundreds of people who'll die of cancer instead of heart disease.

GoggleFox rrrrrrrrr from Acadia, yo. Since: Jul, 2009
rrrrrrrrr
#153: Mar 18th 2011 at 11:39:59 AM

The problem in Pripyat is mostly from the bio-accumulation in there, and the medium-half-life isotopes like Cs-137. The grass and moss is still not something you'd want to walk over barefoot. However, nature is dealing with it by doing this — plant growth there is actually helping to handle the radioisotopes just by being there.

Everything I've heard about the Fukushima plant is that the release is very small, and only really impacts the surrounding area to any significant degree. I do not understand why people in Hawaii, the US, and the freaking Netherlands are buying up tons of KI supplements and such. They're more likely to kill themselves from iodine overdose than to ever encounter radioactive iodine in the next month.

Sakamoto demands an explanation for this shit.
Thorn14 Gunpla is amazing! Since: Aug, 2010
Gunpla is amazing!
#154: Mar 18th 2011 at 2:13:08 PM

oh lawd, on my local news the health expert pretty much had to stare into the camera and go "Do. Not. Buy. Potassium. Iodine. Pills. If. You. Live. In. America."

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
pvtnum11 OMG NO NOSECONES from Kerbin low orbit Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: We finish each other's sandwiches
OMG NO NOSECONES
#156: Mar 18th 2011 at 3:15:59 PM

So, no need to spend every last cap on Rad-X?

Whew. Didn't think I had enough caps to buy a single dose, anyway.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.
EthZee Since: Oct, 2010
#157: Mar 18th 2011 at 3:41:24 PM

Pfff

Real man does not buy Rad-X, expensive quack remedy. Real man use vodka to cure radiation poisoning!

Morven Nemesis from Seattle, WA, USA Since: Jan, 2001
Nemesis
#158: Mar 18th 2011 at 4:06:03 PM

If the vodka's nasty enough, ANYTHING will run away!

That said, the vodka is likely to do you less harm than overdosing on potassium iodide. The only people at non-negligible risk, thus far, are the plant workers.

edited 18th Mar '11 4:07:03 PM by Morven

A brighter future for a darker age.
johnnyfog Actual Wrestling Legend from the Zocalo Since: Apr, 2010 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Actual Wrestling Legend
#159: Mar 18th 2011 at 5:15:34 PM

The irony is that west coast is already generously exposed to radiation. Nevada? Anyone? Everybody in southern California is exposed thanks to the atomic testing. And now they're freaking out about blowback from Japan.

I'm a skeptical squirrel
Usht Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard from an arbitrary view point. Since: Feb, 2011
Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard
#160: Mar 18th 2011 at 5:32:20 PM

Nah, the radiation from that disperses too quickly and there's really only a smoldering pile in the middle of the desert right now, surrounded by fence.

So basically, not all that dangerous aside from the initial impact.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#161: Mar 18th 2011 at 5:51:31 PM

Yeah. The nasty thing about bombs is that they're really fast. But the nice thing about them is that they're really fast :X

CommandoDude Since: Jun, 2010
#162: Mar 18th 2011 at 6:45:54 PM

Am I the only one who thinks that Rads are a way cooler way of talking about radioactivity then the new measurement?

Also, two California nuclear power plants are built very close to fault lines...this is disturbing.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#163: Mar 18th 2011 at 6:46:21 PM

How recently were they built?

CommandoDude Since: Jun, 2010
#164: Mar 18th 2011 at 7:01:46 PM

Very old. Probably as old as 30 years.

It is safe to assume almost every plant in America predates 1986.

TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#165: Mar 18th 2011 at 7:04:26 PM

A shame, a shame... they should probably be decomissioned and replaced with newer more awesome power plants. You know, the ones with racing stripes going up the side.

GoggleFox rrrrrrrrr from Acadia, yo. Since: Jul, 2009
rrrrrrrrr
#166: Mar 18th 2011 at 7:41:32 PM

Mostly it's more a matter of better safety standards, better cooling and backups, higher efficiency, etc etc.

A lot of advancement has happened in nuclear physics over the past 30-40 years.

Sakamoto demands an explanation for this shit.
HungryJoe Gristknife from Under the Tree Since: Dec, 2009
Gristknife
#167: Mar 18th 2011 at 7:56:06 PM

Really, US plants need a major overhall.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.
Chalkos Sidequest Proliferator from The Internets Since: Oct, 2010
Sidequest Proliferator
#168: Mar 18th 2011 at 8:11:23 PM

Yeah, they do. Unfortunately, when the average American hears the words "nuclear power," his thought process goes something like this:

Nuclear power = Three Mile Island = Chernobyl = Nuclear explosion = Death.

At this point he proceeds to flip the fuck out and sends an angry email to his congressman, his local newspaper, or the pundit of his choice.

HungryJoe Gristknife from Under the Tree Since: Dec, 2009
Gristknife
#169: Mar 18th 2011 at 8:47:09 PM

The average American is the reason why ^we need a branch of the military devoted to slapping people who do stupid things.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.
johnnyfog Actual Wrestling Legend from the Zocalo Since: Apr, 2010 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Actual Wrestling Legend
#170: Mar 18th 2011 at 9:00:05 PM

There's something to be said for the astronomical costs of a meltdown, though. It's not enough to repeat, "This could never happen again. Oh, and that could never happen." Obviously, the exact same circumstances won't occur a second time. Each major meltdown has occurred due to a new, unforeseen problem.

Maybe some of us just aren't buying into the idea of a fail-safe nuclear plant.

I'm a skeptical squirrel
GoggleFox rrrrrrrrr from Acadia, yo. Since: Jul, 2009
rrrrrrrrr
#171: Mar 18th 2011 at 9:03:51 PM

Say hi.

As a note, no power source — none, whatsoever — is immune to accidents. it'd be asking for an impossibility to expect such. However, there are modern designs in place that make the chance of accidents much, much lower than ever, and make the results of such accidents less dangerous. Pebble-bed reactors are a form that, if designed properly, are essentially immune to meltdown.

edited 18th Mar '11 9:08:24 PM by GoggleFox

Sakamoto demands an explanation for this shit.
HungryJoe Gristknife from Under the Tree Since: Dec, 2009
Gristknife
#172: Mar 18th 2011 at 9:05:20 PM

Nobody said failsafe, just Chrynoble safe. Which it is. Nuclear is better all around unless something is done incredibly wrong, or the fourth largest earthquake in history happens. The rewards far outweigh the benefits, ^we just need to get over the stigma of nuclear power.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.
RadicalTaoist scratching at .8, just hopin' from the #GUniverse Since: Jan, 2001
Deboss I see the Awesomeness. from Awesomeville Texas Since: Aug, 2009
I see the Awesomeness.
#174: Mar 18th 2011 at 10:05:34 PM

I'm not sure you can do that.

Fight smart, not fair.
RadicalTaoist scratching at .8, just hopin' from the #GUniverse Since: Jan, 2001
scratching at .8, just hopin'
#175: Mar 18th 2011 at 10:50:41 PM

We can't, at least not now. Thus the "dream".

EDIT: For the record: data on Integrated Fast Reactors, aka Fast Breeder Reactors.

And George Monbiot's position on atomic power, for anyone interested. I think someone already linked that though.

edited 18th Mar '11 10:54:17 PM by RadicalTaoist

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

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