Fukushima was actually just bad luck/timing. They knew they had a vulnerability with backup power generation and had planned to address the problem in the near future. Unfortunately, the tsunami took out the backup power generation they had at the plant before they could build a more hardened backup facility. It turns out that only about 50 people have died from the three nuclear accidents. This is far less than the deaths attributed to other sources of electricity. Your average person probably doesn't understand this. The rapid increase in nuclear power plant regulations in the US in the 70's caused an explosion in the cost and time to build nuclear power plants and effectively killed the industry. Also, the Simpsons didn't help from a public relations point of view.
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Originally Posted by Win1894
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).
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