[nickelcitymario]

> for no particular reason

I don't think that's quite accurate. It may be more accurate to say they were misinformed or miscalculated.

The reasons were that they believed, and many people still do, that nuclear was bad for the environment because:

1) It required mining to extract the resources necessary, and mining isn't exactly a green activity.

2) Nuclear disasters are unquestionably bad for the environment, and bad in an immediately visible way. (Compared to carbon, which takes many decades for the effects to take hold.)

3) There's a general sense that we don't know what to do with the nuclear waste.

To be clear, I 100% support nuclear power as the most pragmatic and environmentally friendly solution to our energy needs. But if we're going to tackle the political problem, we have to be honest about why that problem exists.

[pgeorgi]

Part of the peace movement is also opposed to nuclear power because the waste products are suitable for building nukes, with claims that certain aspects of the nuclear power industry mainly exist for that reason.

Incidentally the US raises the same objection over Iran's nuclear power program.

[cglace]

It there any sources of energy that doesnt depend on mining at some point?

[fulafel]

Yes, but many people are reluctant to give up electricity which is hard to use without metals. But wooden windmills, water mills and heating with fire are tried technology.

[saagarjha]

Wooden windmills, water mills, and heating with fire are not significant sources of energy.

[imtringued]

I don't really see the point of this comparison. If there is a need to give up quality of life why not stop consuming during times when carbon neutral energy is not available?

Low renewable energy production is only a problem for maybe 20 days in a year and those days are not consecutive, they are randomly distributed over the year so gas or battery storage beyond 7 days isn't even needed. It wont be the end of the world as long as we can stop emitting CO2.

[nickelcitymario]

No, not if we look at the entire supply chain and the construction of the power plant (whatever the source of power may be).

But people don't get as emotional about the resources required to build windmills (so long as it's not in my backyard) as they do about nuclear. And once a windmill or a dam or a solar farm has been built, there's a belief that there's no ongoing environmental damage. Whereas nuclear (and coal and gas) require ongoing resource extraction.

Again, I'm not the one making these arguments. I'm saying this is public perception. (Or at least my perception of public perception.) I happen to think the only environmentally responsible way to supply all the energy we need for 7 billion people (and growing), especially when more and more of those people are industrializing, is to go nuclear. Every other option seems like a guaranteed way to kill ourselves in the long run.

[rayiner]

> But people don't get as emotional about the resources required to build windmills (so long as it's not in my backyard) as they do about nuclear. And once a windmill or a dam or a solar farm has been built, there's a belief that there's no ongoing environmental damage. Whereas nuclear (and coal and gas) require ongoing resource extraction.

But you need massive amounts of battery storage to actually power a grid with windmills and solar plants (unless you have a bunch of coal and nuclear providing baseload power anyway). And batteries are consumables which require intensive mining.

[imtringued]

Why coal or nuclear? Baseload is incompatible with renewables. During peak production of renewables, coal and nuclear can't simply shut down. They are too slow. What happens is that they have to keep running but sell their electricity at a huge loss. Producing energy when you need it the least is bad economics. It's just that simple.

[JudgeWapner]

you may need massive batteries now, but there are many ways that grids can adapt to this: refrigerators could have a thermal battery that stores excess ice, for instance. same with A/C. home appliances such as dish washers or laundry can be tied to the smart grid and only come on when there is power. same with EV's. The grid can flex a lot more than it currently is.

[nickelcitymario]

I agree completely.