[pfisch]

Chernobyl was almost the largest disaster in all of history. I'm not saying nuclear reactors are unsafe now, but the reality is that a true disaster at a nuclear power plant literally means the end of huge amounts of land, enough to end entire countries or large parts of continents. You can't say things like that about walking or other types of transport...

[triceratops]

> Chernobyl was almost the largest disaster in all of history

Not at all hyperbole when you consider how badly it poisoned the well for future nuclear projects.

[foobarian]

Isn't that a little hyperbolic? Sure cancer rates will be elevated wherever the fallout blows but it's not going to end anything.

[danielheath]

In terms of severity, Chernobyl was a long way from the worst case.

If the core had melted down to a body of water, the steam flash could have vaporized it & ejected it high into the atmosphere.

That's city-ending, if not quite "continent rendered uninhabitable".

[AngryData]

To be fair Chernobyl was designed what, 15 years after the invention of nuclear technology? Even discounting all the politicial and management control problems, the engineering and scientific knowledge of nuclear reactor design was still in its infancy. Imagine if we judged the safety of automobiles on pre-Model-T cars. Or steam boilers and engines on the first 20 yearrs of their invention.

[stackghost]

Chernobyl's reactors were fundamentally unsafe designs from an engineering perspective, to say nothing of the perverse incentives at play because of the Soviet political system. We've learned a lot since the RBMK was designed in the 1960s.

[markvdb]

Not convinced. The problem is with the human layer of managing large complicated projects.

Nuclear could become less unsafe once humanity has found ways not to go commity horrble violence every other generation.

[stackghost]

>Not convinced.

What, if anything, would convince you?

[vkou]

> The problem is with the human layer of managing large complicated projects.

I guess we should stop having large, complicated projects. Potable water mains, road and rail networks, the power grid, the internet, bridges, medicine, etc, are all too complicated for humans to manage.

I mean, nuclear is only the safest form of energy generation that humanity has ever produced, but you're absolutely right.