Posted by LarryC on March 16, 2011 at 18:26:32:
In Reply to: Re: Book about earthquakes and nuclear reactors posted by SL on March 16, 2011 at 18:08:49:
: : : I guess the Japan earthquake proves once and for all that we don't want nuclear reactors. One little earthquake and it's all over for anybody living near one of those things.
: : Wrong. The amazing thing is, every single nuclear reactor in Japan came through their worst earthquake in history totally unscathed (even the oldest ones). But through some incredibly dumb oversight about tsunamis, their electrical systems and their backup generators were placed on low ground where they would end up underwater. That is what caused the problem over there, not the earthquake.
: Are you some kind of pro nuke nut? Just look at the news on every channel why don't you. Everybody in the world now knows all those damned nuclear reactors in the US are ticking time bombs waiting to melt down. Mark my words the next time there is an earthquake in California the same thing will happen to us. Millions could be killed and millions more will die of cancer.
I don't expect anything I might say could lesson your fears about nuclear energy, but for the sake of others who might read your post, I will respond to each of your points.
I agree that the news media does tend to focus on the danger or nuclear energy, and on the worst possible outcomes. They love disasters, even if they have to make them up. That's how they sell product. But notice that most of their reporting is on "possible" outcomes. Scare stories. So far, there is no evidence that anyone in Japan has been hurt by radiation from the nuclear energy plants, just as not one person was hurt in the so-called 3-mile island "disaster." In that case, it was human error that caused a problem, not an earthquake. It was also human error that caused the nuclear accident in Russia. In the current situation, it was poor planning regarding the location of their generators that caused the problem, not an earthquake. The containment vessel was not damaged at all by the earthquake. In fact, so far, in the history of the world, no nuclear plant has ever been damaged by an earthquake, not even by this earthquake, one of the most powerful in history.