Quote:
Originally Posted by biker1
Three accidents turned public opinion; one was probably bad training, one was bad luck, and one was incompetence. Construction cost overruns didn't help. Much of the public's attention is focused on a deep political divide in this country, the looming SS and Medicare/Medicaid financial problems, and our overall debt. I don't see nuclear energy becoming the high priority it should be. I hope I am wrong.
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Yes, the Chernobyl disaster poisoned public opinion for sure - more so than 3-Mile Island, and Fukushima hasn't helped. Chernobyl was a really bad design, one that would never have been built in the western world. It was built to make bomb grade Plutonium - generating electricity was a byproduct. It had no containment building and was operated by poorly trained personnel, and is the only accident that resulted in the loss of life. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident would have been completely avoided had the Japanese built it in an area not subject to earthquakes and tsunamis as they were advised to do. 3-Mile Island was a combination of equipment failure and human error. All of this (and more) would be obviated by 4th generation newer reactor technology. So, how you change public opinion remains as a huge impediment to solving both the huge and increasing demand for electrical power and combating climate change if that's your concern (no CO2 emissions with nuclear power).