# What Will The Earthquake In Japan Mean For The Future of Nuclear Power **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461 "2011-03-12T23:04:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/41 "2011-03-15T19:05:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Two . Today uranium stocks are tanking. . This may be a chance to make some money. Demand for uranium short term aint going to change that much. If the tanking is significant, the stocks will be undervalued. Now, long term futures may be in deep trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/42 "2011-03-15T23:19:47Z")
I hope that this event doesn’t kill the industry, since not all plants are the same. Per [this article](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16contain.html), there were warnings about this design almost thirty years ago. Meanwhile, there is the [Toshiba 4S](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_4S) design, which is supposed to be inherently safer. Does anyone know anything about this design, or about [pebble bed reactors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor), which are also supposedly safer? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/43 "2011-03-15T23:52:18Z")
How many operational pebble bed reactors are there in the world today? Why so few? Over-hyped technology if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/44 "2011-03-17T17:19:24Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Can’t happen in the US? How monumentally naive can you be? Our plants are just as old, same designs, built by the same companies, same safety features (actually the Japanese are far, far better prepared for earthquakes and tsunamis than the US), and also getting extensions on their licenses. > > We’ve got two nuke plants on the coast in California, right on top of major earth quake and tsunami land. They aren’t built for a tsunami or a 9.0 quake either. Get your head out of the sand. You can’t just slap a fresh coat of paint on these things and viola, disaster and “oh shit” proof! Isn’t that, in fact, an argument _for_ building new nuclear plants? The reason that we have 40-year old plants that keep getting their licenses to operate extended is that we can’t build new safer plants to take up some of the load and allow the old more dangerous ones to be decommissioned. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/45 "2011-03-17T17:49:09Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Isn’t that, in fact, an argument _for_ building new nuclear plants? > > The reason that we have 40-year old plants that keep getting their licenses to operate extended is that we can’t build new safer plants to take up some of the load and allow the old more dangerous ones to be decommissioned. At this point what it comes down to is, “we can’t build new safer plants.” It could be hippies, nimbys, govt. bureaucrats & their regs, opposing industries under disguise, anal bean counters, Wall St. commies and Jews, a new species of Snail Darter, or simply those who like to masturbate with the idea they can bring a multi-billion dollar project to its knees simply by threatening a lawsuit. All of the above? None of the above? A little of everything? I dunno, but at this point it’s almost best left to historical documentarians while the rest of us get on with saving the planet. Or whatever it is we’re supposed to be doing right now, as opposed to 10-20 or 50-100 years from now. Ugh. Tired right now. Sorry for snark. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/46 "2011-03-18T01:06:44Z")
Out here on the West Coast it seems like at least half of each news broadcast is about the radioactivity we might be soon getting from Japan. WWII type headlines in the newspapers. And they are now finding traces of radioactivity on shipments coming in from Japan, with much attendant publicity. You Dopers who are giving all these reasoned and logical defences of nuclear power, while you are dead right, don’t understand the problem. We’re going to be dealing with emotion and fear here, not logic. You might as well be out in the middle of the Gobi desert and shouting out your arguments into the wind - nobody is going to hear you. Stick a fork in nuclear. It’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461/47 "2011-03-18T01:11:47Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Isn’t that, in fact, an argument _for_ building new nuclear plants? > > The reason that we have 40-year old plants that keep getting their licenses to operate extended is that we can’t build new safer plants to take up some of the load and allow the old more dangerous ones to be decommissioned. They cost a zillion dollars to construct. It takes 10 years to come on line. Now you have to find a place that will allow construction after the Japanese multiple meltdowns. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-the-earthquake-in-japan-mean-for-the-future-of-nuclear-power/574461.md?page=2)