• Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Radiant indeed, but then Chernobyl happened and we got a lot more cautious about nuclear power. Also about trusting other countries. Well, we didn’t trust them before but that coverup didn’t help.

      • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        And it’s a shame that we became scared of one of the greatest technologies we ever created.

        Nuclear accidents have killed using the most extreme number 45,000 people. Directly meltdowns have killed less than 100. The middle ground estimates average out around 5,000, but let’s give the most extreme number possible for the sake of the argument. These numbers are including projected cancer rates.

        Cars annually kill 1.19 million people in comparison.

        Even if you were to add nuclear weapon usage to the numbers you’d still barely be close to these numbers. Plus every time there’s been an nuclear accident new technologies and safe guards are deployed. 40,000 of that estimated/projected death toll is from Chernobyl.

        • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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          1 day ago

          Nuclear energy was subsidized to make atom bombs seem less threatening.

          If we’d spent as much on renewables and improving the power grid we’d have been off the fossil fuel addiction years ago.

          • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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            1 day ago

            Nuclear energy is both sustainable and safe. It was given a bad reputation by the fossil fuel industry to keep us buying oil.

            Well here we are. We could have eliminated the vast majority of fossil fuel use by the 1960s when solar and wind energy were in their infancy.

            • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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              24 hours ago

              The exact same people run both the fossil fuel industry and nuclear power.

              They ‘compete’ the same way professional wrestlers do.