this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2024
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Memes

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[โ€“] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (3 children)

The Simpsons shows it's safe and efficient ๐Ÿ˜…

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[โ€“] [email protected] 25 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (5 children)

I would rather see more investment on better renewable tech then relaying on biohazard.

You would be surprised to know the amount of scientific research with actual solutions that aren't applied cause goes against the fossil fuel companies and whatnot. Due to the fact that they have market monopoly.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Agreed. Developing countries need clean and affordable energy

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

With initial cost of deployment being the biggest obstacle to nuclear, I'm not sure it will ever be the best green option for developing countries.

This is doubly true since it's lifetime cost-per-kwh is much higher than that of solar.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (5 children)

"Nuclear for me but not for thee".

The optimal temperature for solar panels to operate efficiently is typically around 25ยฐC (77ยฐF).

It is 34ยฐC (93ยฐF) at night.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 46 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Deep level irony that you used a Simpsons meme, which takes place in a city that suffers from a Nuclear Power Plant that doesn't dispose of nuclear waste properly.

Every form of energy generation is problematic in the hands of capital. Security measures can and are often considered unnecessary expense. And even assuming that they will respect all safety standards, we still have the problem of fuel: France, for example, was only able to supply its plants at a cheap cost because of colonialism in Africa. Therefore, nuclear energy potentially has the same geopolitical problems as oil, in addition to the particular ones: dual technology that can and is applied in the military, not necessarily but mainly atomic bombs.

__

Also, I thought memes were supposed to be funny...

[โ€“] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

Yeah, I'd tend to agree on that. Even beyond the security issues, nuclear has the potential to be a safe, but it also has the potential to be disastrous if mis-managed.

We see plenty of issues like this already, including what occurred here: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident

Now imagine a plant in Texas, where power companies response to winter outages has basically been "sucks to be you, winterizing is too costly".

Or maybe we'd like to go with a long-time trusted company, who totally wouldn't throw away safety and their reputation for a few extra bucks. Boeing comes to mind.

I like nuclear as a power source, but the absolutely needs to be immutable rules in place to ensure it is properly managed and that anyone attempting to cut corners to save costs gets slapped down immediately. Corporate culture in North America seems to indicate otherwise.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'd argue it's almost qualifies as an antimeme

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's not completely unfunny because of the unintentional irony. Tough it definitely belongs to that specific category of "meme" commonly seen on r/politicalmemes or any of its variants on the feedverse: usually a frame from The Office with text written on a whiteboard, with the ubiquity of the complete absence of a joke.

[โ€“] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I'm sure nuclear can be super safe and efficient. The science is legit.

The problem is, at some point something critical to the operation of that plant is going to break. Could be 10 years, could be 10 days. It's inevitable.

When that happens, the owner of that plant has to make a decision to either:

  1. Shut down to make the necessary repairs and lose billions of dollars a minute.
  2. Pretend like it's not that big of a deal. Stall. Get a second opinion. Fire/harass anyone who brings it up. Consider selling to make it someone else's problem. And finally, surprise pikachu face when something bad happens.

In our current society, I don't have to guess which option the owner is going to choose.

Additionally, we live in a golden age of deregulation and weaponized incompetence. If a disaster did happen, the response isn't going to be like Chernobyl where they evacuate us and quarantine the site for hundreds of years until its safe to return. It'll be like the response to the pandemic we all just lived through. Or the response to the water crisis in Flint Michigan. Or the train derailment in East Palestine.

Considering the fallout of previous disasters, I think it's fair to say that until we solve both of those problems, we should stay far away from nuclear power. We're just not ready for it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Hi i was a nuclear mechanic, and that's not how it works. I'm on the toilet so I'm not gonna explain it now. Arm chair expert, uninformed opinions like this are part of the reason we're stuck on fossil fuels to begin with.

Everyone brings up Chernobyl like almost 4 entire decades of scientific advancement just didn't happen.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

The reason we're stuck on fossil fuels isn't just because of the people's opinions. The main reason is the same as for most other major problems: money.

[โ€“] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I was a nuclear plant owner and that's not how it doesn't work. I too have a toilet related reason why I won't contribute meaningfully to this discussion.

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