Nuclear Power Is a Faustian Bargain

The U.S. hasn't commissioned a new nuclear plant since before the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979, and will soon have to decommission all its aging reactors. What, if anything, will replace these nuclear plants?

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• bigthink
• aol
• 5min

[Intertronz]

While I have high esteem for Michio Kaku, on this topic I disagree with him. The Nuclear Power Plant performed admirably during the 9.0 earthquake in Japan. All systems automatically shut down as designed in the case of a catastrophic event. What caused it to fail was the fact that the backup power for the plant was on ground level and was wiped out by the tsunami. This was a human error in the designing process. Nuclear Power is one of the best technologies to pursue for future energy use.

[gamingdonnie]

Mr Kaku, can you be my Science teacher?

[Saphlan]

There is no better energy source than nuclear.

[zerrubabbel]

@viking977 first- I didnt ask for your suggestion, either take what i have to say, or leave it... and second- I dont like petroleum either... solar and wind are great, coal is acceptable (Its hard to make and enormous disaster out of), but not prefered because of the pollution...

I have a nuclear plant close enough to me where I would have to move should something go wrong, and frankly, I dont want to...

srry if i sound too rude

[viking977]

@zerrubabbel by this reasoning, petroleum has the price of the gulf of mexico... not worth it.

i suggest you stop looking at things so simply and try to see the big picture. we can't simply ignore an entire energy source because some mistakes have been made, especially since we can't rely on fossil fuels for much longer. *forces self not to bring up fallout*

[zerrubabbel]

nuke energy has a price of $Chernobyl... not worth it

[kdwormy]

There are many places in the states that wouldn't see an earthquake anywhere approaching 9.0 in a million years.

[bdiddy77777]

@joezasada ...well ships don't get hit by earthquakes, so there's virtually no threat to their nuclear reactors....besides a direct impact, and it's highly improbable for that to happen either with the vast amount of weapons, guidance systems, and whatnot that aircraft carriers have.

[bdiddy77777]

@Intertronz fusion**.....emphasis on the asterisk

[M1keOxlong69]

next time im in a car accident im gonna locate the nearest river and go for it

[EL12111]

Sir Kaku plz teach our teachers :\

[MofretFilms]

@Intertronz I agree and disagree with you. It's true that the Nuclear Power Plant in Japan performed as designed and if the backup power would not have been wiped out by the tsunami, it would worked fine (at least i think). But i'm not sure that the Nuclear Power is the best way of producing energy. It produces more energy than Wind Power for an example. But if something goes wrong the consequences can be catastrophic.