So that train derailment in Ohio was worse than initially reported
The environment thread (because climate change isn't the only issue)
- Thread starter NovaSaber
- Start date
There have been a number of freak chemical incidents just this past week. The latest one to hit the news is in Florida (because of course it is):
With any luck the whole East Palestine incident will have similar results to the Cuyahoga River Fire incident and bring people around to the idea that MAYBE we really should put environmental safety over profit. At the very least MAYBE Ohio will start moving back to purple.
Maybe I should have just made a train derailment thread...
Putting this into perspective, the tritium leaked will reportedly be recovered in a year. The carbon released by a coal plant has no estimated date of recovery.
And you think American corporations have gotten better at following safety regulations since the pre-Reagan era?
Whether that's true or not doesn't have any bearing on the actual failsafes and what-not being better. Again, you're saying that the Prius is the same in safety in a crash as the old gas guzzler because the driver isn't wearing a seatbelt in either case.
Also, what people said above - this was overblown by all appearances once you get the actual facts behind that. Tritium not only has that short a half-life, but the radiation it emits can't even penetrate skin, and if it is somehow ingested it's gone in ~2 weeks. Last I heard, they'd even alrready addressed 25% of what as leaked. AND 48 of the 65 plants in the US have had a leak of this nature in the past, and I don't see any irradiated wastelands caused by it. Chernobyl this is not. But the more people that are scared to touch nuclear, the longer we'll be stuck with coal or oil to meet the amount of demand we have currently.
Nuclear energy is not the devil. Safety systems and designs have come a long, long way since plants like Chernobyl or Fukushima have been built. Breeder reactors even reduce waste form fission reactors by a large amount over what it was back then - pretty sure part of the reason this isn't used as much though(besides everyone going NUCLEAR BAD and stopping new plants from being built) is because it can potentially create material you can use to make feasible nuclear weapons.
Given the land space needed by a lot of other solutions, it's something we ultimately need in our energy portfolio if people can get over their nuclear anxiety. We'll still want to replace it in the very long term with something like solar satelites on space elevators, but the longer we wait the more arsenic and loose carbon from things like coal plants we end up with. (Or solar satellites beaming power via microwaves, but if that loses its targetting, well....)
Also, what people said above - this was overblown by all appearances once you get the actual facts behind that. Tritium not only has that short a half-life, but the radiation it emits can't even penetrate skin, and if it is somehow ingested it's gone in ~2 weeks. Last I heard, they'd even alrready addressed 25% of what as leaked. AND 48 of the 65 plants in the US have had a leak of this nature in the past, and I don't see any irradiated wastelands caused by it. Chernobyl this is not. But the more people that are scared to touch nuclear, the longer we'll be stuck with coal or oil to meet the amount of demand we have currently.
Nuclear energy is not the devil. Safety systems and designs have come a long, long way since plants like Chernobyl or Fukushima have been built. Breeder reactors even reduce waste form fission reactors by a large amount over what it was back then - pretty sure part of the reason this isn't used as much though(besides everyone going NUCLEAR BAD and stopping new plants from being built) is because it can potentially create material you can use to make feasible nuclear weapons.
Given the land space needed by a lot of other solutions, it's something we ultimately need in our energy portfolio if people can get over their nuclear anxiety. We'll still want to replace it in the very long term with something like solar satelites on space elevators, but the longer we wait the more arsenic and loose carbon from things like coal plants we end up with. (Or solar satellites beaming power via microwaves, but if that loses its targetting, well....)
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One key difference is that we didn't just completely stop making new cars 40 years ago; we've spent that whole time continuing to improve the tech. Meanwhile, even building a plant as reliable as the 40-year-old ones would require the expertise of people who have long since retired or died.
But the million dollar question, for me, isn't how likely it is that anything would go wrong. It's how big the consequences would be if and when it does. What is the absolute worst case scenario when—not if—the same clowns responsible for crashing the Exxon-Valdez, blowing up the BP offshore rig, and derailing half a dozen different trains full of dangerous chemicals this year alone are put in charge of running one of your fancy-pants new reactors?
I totally forgot the Vogtle plant in Georgia had its newest reactor start a sustained fission reaction this month. Construction on it started in 2009 and pretty much JUST wrapped up. They will be bringing another one online later this year if all goes to plan.
Safety of Nuclear Reactors - World Nuclear Association
Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors. The risks from western nuclear power plants, in terms of the consequences of an accident or terrorist attack, are minimal compared with other commonly accepted risks. Nuclear power plants are very robust. News and information on nuclear power, nuclear energy...
world-nuclear.org
This goes over some of the general improvements etc made over the years, though it doesn't specifically touch on the newer types mentioned in the kurtzgesagt video. directly, from what I could see.
Truck carrying 40,000 pounds of toxic soil from East Palestine train derailment site crashes on highway
I'm not one to believe in curses, but...
I'm not one to believe in curses, but...
No curse, just widespread incompetence.
Video and Photos Show a Tiny, Critically Endangered Porpoise Still Hanging On
The latest scientific survey of vaquitas, one of the planet’s most imperiled species, suggests that new conservation measures are working.