There is a huge difference between a catastrophic breach that lets everything out, and simply venting excess pressure and letting a little bit of crap out so as to prevent a catastrophic breach. Venting is bad, but let’s not confuse it with a catastrophic breach.
I’m still not certain levdrakon does know the difference. (And Fat Man and Little Boy were fission bombs, FWIW)
It’s not just that though. Beyond long term environmental damage, coal mining is itself dangerous and kills a lot of people each year. In the United States, from 2000-2009, 311 miners died in mine accidents. In China, from 2000-2009, 45,606 miners died in mine accidents. And that doesn’t count deaths later in life from black lung or other ailments. The most nuclear accident was Chernobyl, and about 50 people died from that, about the same amount of people who died in the US in 2006 from coal mining.
Meanwhile, both mining and burning coal itself releases radiation in the form of radioactive radon, and by burning coal we’re exposed to more radiation than from nuclear power.
But saving a few more.
Miners die mostly because mine owners can make more profits by gutting worker safety,. They also can make out by paying fines rather than fixing the problems.
Mining could be a lot safer.
Mining could be a lot safer if they didn’t need to do it.
On the plus side, mining companies would no longer be making those evil profits and workers would no longer have to worry about getting injured or sick. On the negative side, governments would no longer be able to collect fines (rather than putting effective legislation and monitoring in place), and workers would starve because they have no jobs.
20 minutes ago
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-japan-quake-nuclear-cooling-idUSTRE72B3GI20110312
At some point I am going to start to be concerned.
What are they doing with the waste seawater they’re using to cool the core?
Interesting black and white world you live in. Safety means unemployment. Therefore you should be glad to risk your life at work.
It does not cost that much to make a workplace safer. Many mines do it. Some try to cut every single dime they can because they are greedy and don’t care about their workers.
No, what I mean is that government has a role in ensuring that there is legislation in place and that it is being followed.
eg, Hiring one ‘policeman’ to monitor 100 mining companies is stupid. It essentially says do what you want because we don’t care enough to ensure you are doing what we ask. People do what they are measured or rewarded on.
A single company that spends all its profits on ensuring safety will quickly go out of business if every other company ignores safety. It is governments role to ensure everyone is following the same rules and only then can there be true competition between players who can fairly decide if the cost of playing in that market is worth the expense.
Bottle it and export it as a High Energy Drink.
The reactor core is perfectly safe. There will be no release and nobody will be harmed. They are not worried at all but just went through the trouble of evacuating a 13 mile radius for fun. They randomly checked 3 of the patients brought in to hospitals in the area. They found elevated radiation levels. That too indicates absolutely nothing.
All is well. there is nothing to see here.
It’s got electrolytes!
They found the state of Kerala in India to have elevated radiation levels, too! :eek:
It’s what plants crave.
Well you know, after a horrific natural disaster, you just evacuate 130,000 people just to “be safe”. No no, don’t use those resources to feed and house people with no homes, use them to move an entire community, even though there is no danger.
And whatever you do, don’t measure the radiation levels or test everyone exposed.
gonzo, had you read the actual comments instead of the cartoon versions you’ve constructed in your head, you’d know that the reactor core is not “safe”; the reactor core is fucked, and will never be used for power generation ever again. What is not yet fucked, and has definitely maintained its integrity through the most dangerous and critical parts of this catastrophe, is the heavy steel containment vessel that’s keeping the *fucked *reactor core from leaking out into the Japanese country and seasides.
“Elevated” radiation levels says nothing about scale. The radiation levels outside your local dentist’s office could be elevated depending on how and when she uses her xray equipment. In the case of your dentist, it’s not a problem. In this case, it is a problem and despite your warped reading of comments here, no one is denying that, least of all Japanese authorities. It’s just not a problem at anywhere the same scale as many other ongoing catastrophes in Japan that have resulted from the earthquake and tsunami.
Up to 160 may have radiation exposure in Japan nuclear accident.
From the article,
xeno, methinks you’ve been wooshed by gonzo.
Ah well. Won’t be the last time, I’m sure.