[MasterYoda900]

This comment is wrong. Countries relying on nuclear energy (United States, China, France…) certainly don’t struggle with “unplanned downtime”. Nor can a modern reactor, built to modern standards, “poison a whole country and their neighbors”. Chernobyl is the worst radiological accident in history and the only one of its kind. Modern reactors can’t explode and burn like Chernobyl. It’s impossible. And nuclear power plants are not built by the lowest bidder, because the number of corporations that can build nuclear reactors is already vanishingly small. Chernobyl isn’t a good argument against nuclear anymore than the 9/11 attacks are a good argument against skyscrapers.

[solarpunk]

Here's a link to a map by the EIA documenting current nuclear outages: https://www.eia.gov/nuclear/outages/

[hef19898]

Well, France was constantly paraded aroubd HN for their failure to keep their nuclear reactors running. Usually not as an example for nuclear power failing, but rather as examole of the state (who doesn't like neo-liberalism?) and France as a counzry (because who doesn't like dumping on France?) failing.

[acchow]

“ Modern reactors can’t explode and burn like Chernobyl. It’s impossible”

Isn’t the impossibility proof only as strong as the assumptions put in?

[smileysteve]

Yes? If the assumption is fail safe is better than fail unsafe.

Passive cooling and automatically, gravity controlled control rods to deactivate the reaction are major innovations. Smaller sized reactors that have better neutron economy also reduce waste and have lower total risk