[akamaka]

It’s really ridiculous to say that nuclear is the safest form of energy, when deaths at Chernobyl and Fukushima were prevented only by enormous cleanup efforts that will probably easily exceed $100 billion each. That doesn’t include the lost economic value of the exclusion zone, higher energy prices, etc.

Meanwhile, there has been a worldwide effort to spend billions of dollars upgrading existing reactors with enhanced safety equipment after Fukushima, which suggests that many nuclear operators had not been accurately calculating risk factors up to that point.

The more accurate statement would be to say that humans are capable of overcoming the inherent danger of nuclear energy, with enough money, will, and sacrifice.

[boomboomsubban]

"It's ridiculous to say nuclear is the safest form of energy when it costs so much money" is a ridiculous argument.

The cost of nuclear may be a fair argument against it, and should definitely be considered when determing our energy policy. That doesn't mean it somehow kills more people.

Every form of energy has an inherent danger that humans can use money, will, and sacrifice to overcome.

[akamaka]

If we’ve spent more money evacuating populations from irradiated areas than on training wind turbine technicians to use harnesses properly, does that mean nuclear energy is safer than wind power?

[boomboomsubban]

Yes? As even after that training, fewer people have died due to nuclear energy. Cost and safety are two separate points, both need to be considered but you can't just say something is unsafe because it's costly.

Imagine someone says "you have to either pay $10 to play Russian roulette with a five chamber gun or $100 to play with a six chamber gun." Which is safer?

[himinlomax]

> It’s really ridiculous to say that nuclear is the safest form of energy, when deaths at Chernobyl and Fukushima were prevented only by enormous cleanup efforts

Do you not understand how superlatives work?

It's the safest form of energy. It's not entirely safe, alright. But pointing that out in the absolute is completely pointless anyway. We need/want energy, there's a price for it. In terms of safety, nuclear is the best. Superlative. It's better than all alternatives.