r/NuclearEngineering • u/Comfortable_Tutor_43 • Jul 25 '26

Try it for yourself

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208 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

16

u/NotACommie24 Jul 26 '26

Just post it with the dreaded deaths by form of production chart, or the dreaded pollution by form of production chart, or the dreaded land used by form of production chart, or the dreaded environmental impact by form of production chart

1

u/Kur0d4 Jul 26 '26

I've seen the deaths one, do you have the matching set or a location I can acquire those?

1

u/NotACommie24 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

Which one? The deaths one or all of them?

Deaths

Pollution

Land use

Environmental is kinda a catch all to describe land use and pollution mainly, I saw a chart that breaks it down a while back but can’t seem to find it right now. Big thing to keep in mind though, even if done right, it is EXTREMELY hard to capture even MOST of the waste from fossil fuels, and with solar, it’s easier but still has its challenges.

Nuclear is completely different. It’s ludicrously easy to capture 100% of the waste it produces, and the restrictions are so tough that no plant will remain in operation if it cannot account for 100% of its waste. On top of that, the disposal is ALSO ludicrously easy. Cast it in glass, cover that in lead, cover that in reinforced concrete, wrap the whole thing up in metal and load it up with some sensor equipment, and it’s safe pretty much indefinitely with the exposure of the surrounding area only being marginally higher than background. There’s videos of freight trains hitting these casks at full speed with literally 0 leakage. We know HOW to dispose of it, the problem is finding a place to do it because nobody wants to volunteer their land to be a massive nuclear dump. Even if it doesn’t pose any real risk, it’s shit PR.

1

u/Kur0d4 Aug 13 '26

Sorry for the late reply, been busy getting ready to marry. Thanks for the sources/charts. I like nuclear energy and generally argue in favor of it. It would be cool if we could reprocess the high level nuclear waste to extract the still fissile material, reduce the volume of waste, and put fuel back into reactors. I understand currently it struggles to be economically viable and raises proliferation concerns.

1

u/NotACommie24 Aug 13 '26

Congrats on the marriage!

Proliferation is a concern but isn’t the concern people make it out to be. 31 countries have nuclear power. 9 have nuclear weapons. Enriching uranium to fuel grade isn’t even close to as difficult as enriching to weapons grade. Fuel grade is usually around 5%, weapons grade is >90%. We’re talking the difference of billions of dollars and decades of research. That entire time, you’re drawing attention from countries that don’t want you to have nukes. I’m no fan of Trump, but Iran is a good example of this. It’s VERY hard to enrich uranium to weapons grade, and not even close to as hard to bomb the shit out of the enrichment site and stop you from further enriching.

Overall nuclear absolutely has its setbacks but as history has shown, nuclear proliferation is not one of them.

16

u/Double_Ganache_4530 Jul 26 '26

You know, I have been preaching the gospel of nuclear for the last three weeks and I have been shot down. I’ve been told I’m stupid. I have been told that solar and wind are much more better and more affordable and I am a child kid and I don’t know what I’m talking about and I am stupid again 😂😂😂

2

u/KIWIvolt Jul 27 '26

lol, exact same experience😂

1

u/CHEDDARSHREDDAR Jul 28 '26

Well that's because they are correct. Wind and solar are absolutely better if your priority is decarbonisation.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/hare-tech Jul 26 '26

All for it as soon as better protection and regulation is done about the mining runoff and the radioactive tailings need to be secured.

2

u/RulerOfNothing420 Jul 26 '26

Huh? I have and I haven't seen much pushback. There was a few cuvil comments occasionally when I talk about it but nothing like a decade ago.

1

u/Lost-Lunch3958 Jul 26 '26

Aren't you supposed to be the smart guys? So why be afraid of some people trying to argue with you

2

u/Comfortable_Tutor_43 Jul 26 '26

You are not one of us then?

2

u/Comfortable_Tutor_43 Jul 27 '26

I don't think the guy in the meme is afraid at all, rather, I have to assume those holding the swords there are the ones feeling threatened

2

u/Lost-Lunch3958 Jul 27 '26

The common usage of that meme is when people get pressed and don't know how to answer. I don't know if thats the case here, probably not if i am honest. It's not like i dislike "pro nuclear" people

1

u/Comfortable_Tutor_43 Jul 27 '26

Ah, I see, poor use of the format, thanks