The Lousiana oil rig failure...

[Bubblehead Nuke]

Originally Posted by Platapus

As far as I have been able to find out, the United States death toll from Nuclear power reactors is 3 in 1961 (SL-1 Incident)

Our worst nuclear reactor accident was Three Mile Island and that resulted in zero deaths. More people have been killed in the construction and operation of hydro-electric dams than have been killed in nuclear power plants in the United States.

Nuclear power has the potential of being dangerous, but that danger can be mitigated. What is more scary is that we have some very old nuclear reactors operating in the US. When one of them fails due to old age/old technology, the anti-Nuke people will proudly claim "see, we told you"

We need to shut down the older reactors and build many smaller, safer, more efficient nuclear reactors.

Nuclear power is not easy. It takes careful planning, and regulation. But it can be a safe and controllable source of power.

Fission is not the ultimate answer. But it will serve us well until we can develop other means of obtaining power.

A learned one.. I applaud you for learning. SL-1 was bad. It was needed to teach us the dangers. That is what started the whole "EVERYONE has to know what they are doing, not just those in supervisory positions' attititude.

The old reactors NEED to go away. Just like the cars, planes, trains, and such of yesteryear, they have served their purpose and need to make way for more efficient technology. Granted, something needs to be said for the robust over engineering they have in them.

We need to make a standardized design with common training and procedures. You can then standardize the training, testing, and certification. Currently, you are certified for ONE plant. Not one facility, but ONE plant. The one on the other side of the parking lot is off limits if you are not certified on it.

You are correct on the many small plants. It allows for more controlled maintenance and repairs. If need 1 gigawatt, you put 3 or more 500 megawatt plants on site. You can then shut down one without overstraining the grid. If you need extra power, you can bring more power on-line. If you have a problem with one you shut it down without crippling the grid.

More important, if something bad DOES happen, you can bring in BUS LOADS of trained qualified people who can help immediately without have to undergo familiarization.