How fear of nuclear power supports Putin and global warming

[Celerity]

Fear of nuclear energy has made it harder to stand up to dictators and slow down global warming. Is it time for a rebrand?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/nuclear-power-fear/?itid=hp-top-table-main



snip

“If you were designing a truly rational energy system to move towards a zero-carbon energy system, this is not the path you’d be taking,” Randy Bell, senior director for global energy security at the Atlantic Council, said of Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear power.

Even accounting for emissions created during the building of the facility and the mining of its fuel, the typical nuclear plant produces fewer greenhouse gases than power plants fuelled by natural gas and coal, and about the same as those running on renewable sources such as wind and solar.



Yet on windless days, wind turbines fail to spin, and even in sunny places, solar panels sit idle at night. Nuclear plants make electricity all day long. As the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of 278 top climate experts assembled by the United Nations, put it, “Nuclear power can deliver low-carbon energy at scale.”

What gets in the way? “Emotional factors” can make nuclear energy politically toxic, the report noted, citing Germany’s policy after Fukushima. The conclusion? “Nuclear power and accident potential score high on psychological dread.”

snip

[The Magistrate]

1. I Am Inclined To Agree, Ma'am

Certainly to the extent of seeing need to explore and exploit all carbon-neutral energy sources.

[Blues Heron]

2. lol even in sunny places solar panels sit idle at night

OMG who knew!

I see the Nuke rehab tour continues apace. Maybe they would have a better rep if they stopped melting down and rendering vast swathes of the earth uninhabitable.

What ever happened to those idiotic Russian soldiers that self-nuked in the red forest near Chernobyl - any update on them?

[Celerity]

3. EROI for renewables alone isn't atm, enough for viability, & the new gens of nukes are far more safe

[Blues Heron]

4. Negawatts are the best - turn something off right now!

maybe dont go to Cancun for that kegger, trim the old bucket list a little.

[Celerity]

5. I live in one of the most green advanced nations on the planet

Also, we have zero desire to jet off to Mexico.

We are number 1 on this list.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/most-sustainable-countries

[Blues Heron]

6. I just mean as a general principal

It’s best not to have to generate the wattage in the first place. It really does come down to human behavior, not which gizmo we use to power everything.

[Celerity]

7. a good place to start is with bellends who gravitate towards this type of behaviour

[dalton99a]

8. Yep. Putin supports the anti-nuclear movement in the West for strategic reasons

Russian oil and gas