A comment on the nuke problems in Japan -- The Rosewater Foundation, Rosewater, Indiana

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Date Posted: 09:28:07 03/15/11 Tue
Author: Paul Davis
Subject: A comment on the nuke problems in Japan

Ok, the absolute worst that could happen with a Gen II nuclear reactor happened, it got hit with an earthquake, and then flooded, all backup power died, cooling failed, and on and on.

Despite the panic inducing press, there has been no nuclear explosion, no fallout, no vast amount of radiation detectable off the plant property. There has been no China Syndrome, they've not got the core down on the ground or anything outside the vault it's all built in, and it's not done anything a Gen II reactor under those extreme circumstances wasn't expected to do.

Compare that to the result if a couple of large dams had been upriver from Honsho. We'd not be discussing anything except the death toll when the entire city was flushed out to sea after the tidal wave receded and the dam waters hit after the dam broke.

To discuss consequences, you have to ask what the dangers are from other means of generating power. Coal mines collapse, catch fire (just ask folks in Pennsylvania and West Virginia about those issues), steam plants burn and explode, dams break, oil has spills, natural gas is explosive and poisonous, solar power covers acres of area. Nothing is perfect, and I doubt the perfect power source will ever be found. Compare risks, don't compare to perfect. Perfect doesn't exist.

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Replies:

Re: A comment on the nuke problems in Japan -- Jeffman, 17:34:34 03/15/11 Tue
- What's caused the radiation problems since the power failure -- Paul Davis, 20:01:03 03/19/11 Sat