Source: Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous and expensive. Say no to new nukes.
Preface. This is a summary of: Hirsch H (2005) Nuclear Reactor Hazards Ongoing Dangers of Operating Nuclear Technology in the 21st Century. Greenpeace International.
The revival of the nuclear power industry, mainly to keep data centers, AI, and cryptocurrencies alive is insane. Keep the lights on for 3 generations and poison the next 30,000 generations with nuclear waste that can last thousands of years to a million or more? Nuclear cannot balance the quick ups and downs of wind and solar power to prevent the grid from crashing, it is harmful to dangerous to raise or lower the power quickly, it takes hours. At best nuclear power can load follow — ramp up slowly to meet morning or late afternoon demand.
As nuclear power plants age, they grow more and more likely to fail. Especially after 20 years. Not surprising, since they were only built to last 20 to 40 years, and now their lives are being extended up to 80 years.
Nuclear cheerleaders say that permanent waste storage is not a problem because we know how to bury it, which still hasn’t happened anywhere on the planet, though Finland is digging a large hole now, thanks to a very educated populace who didn’t oppose it. Nor will we ever be able to reprocess the waste in fast reactors, yet another false promise of SMR promoters.
Nuclear is not cheap. Cleaning up the mess at the Hanford site in Washington may cost $641 billion (Frank 2022) and Fukushima over $1 trillion. And a nuclear fuel pool fire could cost $2 trillion and force millions of people to evacuate.
Preface. This is a book review of Ramana’s “Nuclear is not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change.” A great overview that covers many topics, one of the best out there, and most recent. Also some of my kindle notes. But still, so much not covered, and this is such an important topic now that there are billions of dollars of Nuclear Cheerleaders convincing people that Nuclear Is The Answer. Before buying into the hoopla, read this book to be more informed about what is hype and what is realistic. Especially because most of the public, especially younger generations, have forgotten how dangerous they are. And if you’ve read my books, you know that electricity can’t replace diesel transportation, so all we are doing is creating toxic waste dumps for tens of thousands of future generations as oil declines to drips by 2100 or sooner.
