So much for safe nuke power

[Boogity]

Let's abandon all motor vehicles as I sort of remember someone being killed in one.

Let's abandon all aircraft 'cause someone might get hurt on one.

Come on folks get real. Nuc power works and works well. Accidents happen.

After all George Sorros is an accident. Or maybe he's just a mistake. Either way, he needs to take a long walk on a short pier.

 

[Wifezilla]

It is not whoever this Sorros guy is (America is not the whole world)

George Soros is not an American "thing". He is actually Hungarian and a world wide player. America is just his latest playground. He is the man that "Broke the bank of England".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...ntre-hedge-funds-betting-crisis-hit-euro.html

 

[MorelCabin]

In America it tends to be more about dollars than about sense. Safety is an issue that has to be forced down corporate throats. I know it is really that way in most places. I remember when they first mandated seat belts. The auto industry said it would cost too much to weld a couple reinforcements on the floorboards and put some belts in to keep people form flying out of cars. Not only that you might get knocked unconscious and burn to death if you were strapped in vs having your head crushed. Then I got stationed in Germany in 82 and I was astonished to find that cars made in Europe didn't have safety glass or side impact bars or any kind of emission controls. So it isn't just America that has elements in their government that worship the dollar over human life. It is common in any country that has a faction in power that bends to corporate will.

That's one of the big reasons I'm leery of nuclear power generation. I'm afraid of deregulation that will allow builders to do what they want and play the odds. After all, every time a major corporation cuts corners and people die because of it there are never criminal charges brought up. They simply get a fine which is just a small % of their profits and go on their merry way. JMO

Now that is something to think about...

 

[k0xxx]

I know I will probably get metaphorically stoned for this but....
I think the fact that the 40 year old reactors withstood a large magnitude earthquake & aftershocks with the tsunami thrown in shows that this type of power is safer than we think.
All the reactors shut down when the earthquake began and site #2 is completely offline & safe at this point. Granted, a better design for the generators delivering coolant would have averted what is happening at site #1 right now but so far the only confirmed danger to people was some navy personnel having to be washed down with soap & water. (I have not heard of any injuries due to the hydrogen explosions, if someone has info on this please let me know).

Not trying to say this situation is rosy by any means, but at this stage there is no likelyhood of a repeat of Chernobyl and I'm more concerned about the refinery blazing away and the effect of no clean water, lack of sanitation, food shortages & lack of heat will cause for Japan's people.

I tend to agree with you on the overall safety of the nuke plants and the fact that it was still intact, after what it went through. Perhaps if it had it's diesel generators located at a level above the tsunami the situation would have fared better. However, while the burning refinery is indeed a concern, I'm more concerned with the sea water being used to cool the reactors. From my understanding that sea water has no place to be stored and is being pumped right back into the ocean. YIKES!

 

[patandchickens]

Let's abandon all motor vehicles as I sort of remember someone being killed in one.
Let's abandon all aircraft 'cause someone might get hurt on one.
Come on folks get real. Nuc power works and works well. Accidents happen.

So, what, if a person dies playing Russian roulette, "get real, hey it's just an accident, accidents happen", lets teach our kids this fun game, there's no reason they shouldn't play it?

There has to be some weighing of benefits vs risks-and-consequences. Not EVERY game is worth the candle.

(e.t.a. - at least in Russian roulette you only get YOURSELF killed, not a bunch of strangers and land made unusable and suchlike)

Pat

 

[Wannabefree]

In America it tends to be more about dollars than about sense. Safety is an issue that has to be forced down corporate throats. I know it is really that way in most places. I remember when they first mandated seat belts. The auto industry said it would cost too much to weld a couple reinforcements on the floorboards and put some belts in to keep people form flying out of cars. Not only that you might get knocked unconscious and burn to death if you were strapped in vs having your head crushed. Then I got stationed in Germany in 82 and I was astonished to find that cars made in Europe didn't have safety glass or side impact bars or any kind of emission controls. So it isn't just America that has elements in their government that worship the dollar over human life. It is common in any country that has a faction in power that bends to corporate will.

That's one of the big reasons I'm leery of nuclear power generation. I'm afraid of deregulation that will allow builders to do what they want and play the odds. After all, every time a major corporation cuts corners and people die because of it there are never criminal charges brought up. They simply get a fine which is just a small % of their profits and go on their merry way. JMO

Now that is something to think about...

Okay here's what I think about it. Let's also get rid of TV's, phones, video games, microwaves, cell phones, and a whole bunch of other crap and just bring manufacturing in general to a screaming halt worldwide. PLUS (I aint done dictating yet ) Get rid of all sports, all construction, all vehicles, all carnival rides and thrill seeking equipment and just wrap the whole world in bubble wrap, hold hands, and sing cumbaya.

That gets rid of any reason for excess energy AND folks to get hurt. we should all be safe now.

I'm almost as ridiculous as some other folks huh?

Ya gotta pay to play, risk is everywhere. Nobody gets out of this life alive. Let people choose for themselves what is good for them and the degree of risk to take. So far, nuclear power is less dangerous than some other activities we all do every day. If you want to live in the woods without power fine, go ahead, but don't expect everyone else to follow just cause you said so :/

You can safety yourself right out of any kind of life.

 

[Dunkopf]

It is not whoever this Sorros guy is (America is not the whole world)

George Soros is not an American "thing". He is actually Hungarian and a world wide player. America is just his latest playground. He is the man that "Broke the bank of England".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...ntre-hedge-funds-betting-crisis-hit-euro.html

I'm not going to respond about Sorros anymore. As far as I know Sorros doesn't have any chips in the game when it comes to nuclear power. The thread is about the safety of nuclear energy and if it is still a viable option in the future of energy production in the USA.

I would like to see them make nuclear energy truly safe. We need something. It seems that wind and solar will never quite do the job and trying to cut consumption through legislation is political suicide. All the other options are very limited. even if we drill and pump all the oil out of the earth it won't last much more than another 50 years. They say coal is good for another 100 and natural gas is another 75 or so.

 

[FarmerChick]

McGuire Nuclear Station is located on Lake Norman in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Lake Normanthe states largest man-made lakewas built by Duke Energy in 1963 by damming the Catawba River with Cowans Ford Hydroelectric Station. The lake provides cooling water for both McGuire and Marshall Steam Station.

McGuire was the second of three nuclear stations designed and built by Duke Power. Unit 1 began commercial operation in 1981, followed by unit 2 in 1984. Today, Duke Energys nuclear fleet provides electricity to approximately half of its customers in the Carolinas.

_____________________________

I live about 20 miles from this. Doesn't scare me for one second.
It crap happens, it happens, ---if it doesn't, well, hell that would be absolutely wonderful!

Do you think all the employees go to work today saying---what the hell, screw safety, I will just flip this button for the hell of it....hahaha
I think the employees would take their jobs very responsibility.


what one nuclear plant can provide would take a zillion windmills
(well not sure but you get my drift)....and those windmills make noise, unsighlty to many, kill birds, they fail also......so honestly if it isn't one thing it is another.

 

[me&thegals]

For everyone saying, get rid of cell phones, TV, cars, etc. Come on. Not all risks are created equal. Think about the cancer rates and PERSISTENT, to-this-day level of birth defects in areas where people have been exposed to radiation.

So, please don't act like some people are advocating NO risks. They're just advocating weighing the risks quite carefully.

And, most of the risks you all mention are CHOSEN by you! A nuclear disaster affects everyone, whether they had wanted the nuclear plant or not. And many, many generations into the future.

And honestly, Farmerchick--if a nuclear accident happened by you, it would be wonderful? Seriously? You're fine with your daughter exposed to radiation? I get that you support nuclear power, but it's hard to take you seriously with that kind of attitude about it.

 

[patandchickens]

Okay here's what I think about it. Let's also get rid of TV's, phones, video games, microwaves, cell phones, and a whole bunch of other crap and just bring manufacturing in general to a screaming halt worldwide. PLUS (I aint done dictating yet ) Get rid of all sports, all construction, all vehicles, all carnival rides and thrill seeking equipment

I gather you're trying to be ridiculously extreme in your list here, but it would not be a bad idea at all (not getting rid of "all", just a whole big lot of), IMHO. And many of us ARE getting rid of much that stuff from our lives, as being unnecessary and generally unhelpful in the long run.

Ya gotta pay to play, risk is everywhere. Nobody gets out of this life alive. Let people choose for themselves what is good for them and the degree of risk to take.

What are you being all sarcastic about if you want people to "choose for themselves what is good for them and the degree of risk to take"?

I am choosing for myself - choosing that I am not happy with the risks and costs involved in nuclear power, and choosing to advocate against it.

You may not agree with it of course, but it's a free country.

Pat