nuclear power yes or no

[barrowmanandrew]

in light of the disaster unfolding in Japan, should we be investing in nuclear power plants or aiming to close them down?

i am old enough to remember the Chernobyl accident and remember being fed the " oh, its an ageing Russian plant. its in a state of disrepair and nothing like that could ever happen here" propeganga.

i honestly imagined a rusty old building with a nuclear reactor inside...

no wonder they can't control it... i remember thinking...

but as far as i am aware Japan's plants are relativley new, add to that they seem to be technologically advanced as well not having the highest standards of health and saftey in the world...

and yet, they cannot shut their reactors down.....

also,
i do not understand the dangers involved anymore.
i seem to remember being taught all radiation is lethal, but now they are detecting levels millions of times higher than normal in japan's sea's, but it is not considered that dangerous....

not to mention the waste product problem....

i used to to be of the opinion that nuclear was safe and necessary, now i dont know what to think.....

what does everyone else think?

whats everyones thoughts?

sh

[cactikid]

i believe not safe also as it was tested in uk and irl we got a small reading of radiation,no borders to stop it.

[barrowmanandrew]

i tried to ad a poll here, but ~~~~ed it it up...

could i have one added please...

the question is:
should we use nuclear power.

answers:

a: yes it is safe, we should be investing for the future.

b. no it is not safe but our best option

c. it could be dangerous, we should not build anymore

d: it is dangerous, we shouyld focus on shutting existing plants down

[Grizz]

i dont like it but if i put on my practical hat its the best option. so b. i guess

probably not wise to have them in an earthquake prone zone though

[tshirtman]

I look at it this way, whats more dangerous,
nuclear power or our dependency on oil,
I think I know what has caused more deaths.

[barrowmanandrew]

I look at it this way, whats more dangerous,
nuclear power or our dependency on oil,
I think I know what has caused more deaths.

this is the exact question i'm struggling with...

just how dangerous is it?

i dont belive much that politicians tell us anymore...

first it deadly , then its not.....

[chroma]

YES!

The ~~~ashima plant is far from new it was built in the 60s, that's almost 50yrs old, designing would have been done in the late 50's to early 60s too.
It would have been fine if it hadnt been for unforeseeable events, no one ever imagined that a wave would ever approach that was bigger than the 20m sea wall defence around the plant nor that it would have to endure one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded, its stood up quite well considering the punishment that was thrown at the thing.

What worries me is how major events get handled.
Take Pripyat for instance, the reactor issue was known a full two days before it was evacuated or the government cracked light that they even had an issue.
Politics killed countless people.

The same with the way IAEA seem to be handling things, fearing a panic and keeping details that would be better served up straight.

I trust Nuclear power more than any other source, take coal for instance, living in proximity to a coal plant give an order of magnitude more radiation (Sieverts) than working IN a nuclear plant. Modern day reactors are fairly safe barring some major catastrophe like serious quakes, fire raining from the sky, attacked by a kraken or tidal wave the size of a 3 storey building. none of which there's any real risk of in the UK.

I've got a nuclear powered reactor not that far from me, a lot of nuclear subs in close proximity and a few mountains filled with warheads and other nuclear goodies. Maybe i'm biased by that having spent a lifetime with all that junk pretty local, i dunno.

[gmb45]

poll added as requested

[oneman]

Don't have a problem with it and I don't live a million miles from one of the UK stations.

[Meat-Head]

YES!

The ~~~ashima plant is far from new it was built in the 60s, that's almost 50yrs old, designing would have been done in the late 50's to early 60s too.
It would have been fine if it hadnt been for unforeseeable events, no one ever imagined that a wave would ever approach that was bigger than the 20m sea wall defence around the plant nor that it would have to endure one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded, its stood up quite well considering the punishment that was thrown at the thing.

.

There you go, lasted 50 years already, earth quake wasnt boked in, 20 m wall, back up batterys, back up generater, they tried.

OFF TOPIC:-

The World Trade CentRE in USA that was, was desgined to enable an aireplane to be parked on it, when designed in the 70's but what parked was a LARGE airplane

So yeah, that's "fine" it collapsed

ON TOPIC:-

If the jap's have a problem then no body can help

OFF TOPIC:-

Heard about some tv programme, got a jap motorbike, drained the oil, ran it full throttle for 15 mins, still running NO OIL, then they got bored and shut if off

[super jumbe]

Amount of power dk use, the only option we have is nuclear.

[Meat-Head]

Amount of power dk use, the only option we have is nuclear.

yes, server should be, so when world ends we will still be on line

OFF TOPIC:-

There are several comapnys that offer web hosting, that DO have the servers in underground nuclear bunkers

[xant14]

I think we should all start building mini nuclear plants in our outbuildings, alongside the windmill and solar panels, and then sell any surplus back to Nat Grid.
I mean, just how hard can it be? and how much room would it take up? atoms are really small, almost as small as the screws on a laptop HDD cover.
I am busy now knocking up plans for my reactor, and about to contact the dragons den.

[Meat-Head]

and how much room would it take up? atoms are really small, almost as small as the screws on a laptop HDD cover.
.

cool, such an intresting sectence had to be high ligted

1) Can you use an atom to hold laptop lid on?
2) If you drop an atom, can you get them from PC World?

[barrowmanandrew]

atoms are really small, almost as small as the screws on a laptop HDD cover.
.

brillient , pissing myslf laughing