Okay I do actually agree that nuclear power is “over-regulated” to a point that makes it too costly and difficult to build more of. A point I will not give to any other industry.
Like, here’s an example of a rare thing I would actually describe as “over-regulation”: You could never build a nuclear power plant on the former site of a coal power plant, because the amount of radioactive material produced by a coal power plant is way higher than the maximum amounts allowed for a nuclear plant. Every coal power plant site is more contaminated than we allow nuclear sites to become.
I feel similar to nuclear power as I do about weed vs alcohol. When alcohol (coal power) is so available, putting harsher restrictions on weed (nuclear power) just encourages people to use the worse option.
Reasons for this are many but mostly scientific illiteracy and unreasonable fears about nuclear power, and connection and confusion between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
I am usually pleasantly surprised that none of these Reddit talking points come up when talking about nuclear with people. It’s usually go back to the cost of waste disposal and the economic risks of trying to get modern plants built even with the full support of the public like in France and Finland.
Do I trust these people to be in charge of this? No of course not but I also don’t trust them to be in charge of the coal power plants they’re already running, it’s really hard to meltdown a reactor these days and hey at least Chernobyl is localized and isn’t boiling the whole planet
Okay I do actually agree that nuclear power is “over-regulated” to a point that makes it too costly and difficult to build more of. A point I will not give to any other industry.
Like, here’s an example of a rare thing I would actually describe as “over-regulation”: You could never build a nuclear power plant on the former site of a coal power plant, because the amount of radioactive material produced by a coal power plant is way higher than the maximum amounts allowed for a nuclear plant. Every coal power plant site is more contaminated than we allow nuclear sites to become.
I feel similar to nuclear power as I do about weed vs alcohol. When alcohol (coal power) is so available, putting harsher restrictions on weed (nuclear power) just encourages people to use the worse option.
Reasons for this are many but mostly scientific illiteracy and unreasonable fears about nuclear power, and connection and confusion between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
I am usually pleasantly surprised that none of these Reddit talking points come up when talking about nuclear with people. It’s usually go back to the cost of waste disposal and the economic risks of trying to get modern plants built even with the full support of the public like in France and Finland.
Do I trust these people to be in charge of this? No of course not but I also don’t trust them to be in charge of the coal power plants they’re already running, it’s really hard to meltdown a reactor these days and hey at least Chernobyl is localized and isn’t boiling the whole planet