JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

I'll bite: why is location relevant? Because people live nearby?


In another message, you pretended to know something about the
Shoreham plant. Your information was obviously incomplete. Go look
at a map.
The U.S. mortality rate per megawatt is infinitely higher for
coal-fired plants than nuclear powered ones.

Irrelevant.

No it's not. We've already made the decision about energy vs.
potential deaths. If we're willing to accept some number of deaths
due to coal, natural gas, hydroelecric, gerbils on wheely-things,
and so on, then that same acceptance should apply to nuclear.

If it can be shown that the actual deaths and disease (or their
risk) from nuclear power is less or the same as other forms of
energy generation, than that issue should be completely off the
table.

Now you sound like the fools who say that the number of dead U.S.
soldiers in Iraq weren't such a big deal compared to how many
Americans die in car accidents each year.

No, that's apples and orangutans. We've already made the decision that we're
willing to tolerate "x" deaths per Gigawatt generated. If some form of
energy generation comes in at "y" where "y" is substantially less than "x",
then it's disingenuous to criticize this generation process for causing "y"
deaths.

A similar argument would be: "Air travel results in 2,000 deaths per 100
million miles traveled, and therefore should be banned" when we've already
accepted 81,000 automobile deaths for the same passenger distance. Or space
exploration should be curtailed because we've had seven deaths in 100
gazillion miles traveled.

Nothing is absolutely safe. With radiation, there are three, and only three,
hazards to health.

* Radiation sickness. You either die or get completely over it.
* Genetic mutation. There has never been a case of such in human history.
* Cancer. Cancer is the most studied disease on the planet, and we're making
strides against it daily.

We don't even know the NAMES of all the stuff that comes out of a
coal-powered plant's smokestack!

As an aside, military deaths in Iraq are NOT a big deal, or at least no more
so than a mountain climbing accident, a sky-diving death, a NASCAR
collision, or time on the International Space Station. Our soldiers joined
volunteered for the opportunity to kill people and blow things up. They
accepted the risk of personal disaster for the thrill of adventure, just
like Sir Edmund Hillary.