this is a subject that the USA gov and China even agree on. It is such a shame westerners have such a negative reaction to nuclear energy. but it isn't as profitable as fossil fuels/selling new electric cars so :meow-shining:

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/advantages-and-challenges-nuclear-energy

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202106/1227103.shtml

  • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Nah, Americans love nuclear because they've internalised all the cold war propaganda about it , and have those brainworms.

    Seriously where do you plan to get the uranium? Uranium open pit mining in global south countries (which is how it will be done, don't kid yourself) is much worse than pretty much anything. Here in South Africa we have a whole city that got effected by an open pit uranium mine. Al Jazeera did a whole documentary on how open pit gold and uranium mining, and the waste piles left afterwards, are poisoning the residents of Ekurhuleni/the East Rand. Kazakhstan is going to be absolutely ruined if the demand for uranium goes up. How do you plan to store nuclear waste safely under the cluster fuck that is capitalism?

    Easy for other countries and leftists in them (including China, as much good as they've done lately) to be pro nuclear power when they're people aren't being poisoned by open pit uranium mines.

    • Wheaties [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Lot of promising work being done with Thorium reactors - much more common element, no weapons grade enrichment, and (theoretically) no possibility of a runaway reaction

        • Wheaties [she/her]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Renewable are viable when paired with nuclear. It's not exclusive, each shores up the downsides of the other.

            • Wheaties [she/her]
              ·
              3 years ago

              The biggest problem with renewables is inconsistency. Sun doesn't always shine, wind doesn't always blow. Batteries can really help, but electrical grids are strange. Supply has to equal demand, it doesn't work otherwise. You can move excess energy into a battery and back into the system as needed, but there's no guarantee you're going have enough in storage. Being able to switch on a reactor to plug the gaps just makes your grid more reliable in more situations.