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.

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markvdb 6 hours ago | parent [-]

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.

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DennisP 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The problem with Chernobyl was that (1) it didn't have a containment dome, and (2) it was designed so as the temperature increased, the reaction sped up. It was fundamentally unstable.

Neither of these problems is true of more recent reactors.

We don't make bridges safe by getting humans to cooperate better and cross bridges one car at a time. We make them strong and stable so humans can drive however they like and the bridge is fine. That's how all engineering works, and it applies to nuclear reactors just like anything else.

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stackghost 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>Not convinced.

What, if anything, would convince you?

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vkou 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> 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.

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crote an hour ago | parent [-]

What's the absolute worst that could happen when a water mains breaks? What's the absolute worst that could happen when a train derails? What's the absolute worst that could happen when a backhoe snacks on a fiber trunk?

Now, what's the absolute worst that could happen when a nuclear reactor spirals out of control?

	▲	dosisking an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Hypothetically, a train could derail, the train was carrying nuclear waste, the derailment occurred in a highly populated area, near a Virology Lab. The lab was damaged, which released a deadly form of Smallpox, which spread to every corner of the Earth, killing every single human. That would be pretty bad, but not sure if it would be the absolute worst.
	▲	vkou an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> What's the absolute worst that could happen when a water mains breaks? People drink contaminated, unpotable water and die. > What's the absolute worst that could happen when a train derails? People die. > What's the absolute worst that could happen when a backhoe snacks on a fiber trunk? Life-critical infrastructure that depends on the communication fails in a bad way and people die. > Now, what's the absolute worst that could happen when a nuclear reactor spirals out of control? People die. Nothing in life is without risk. Nuclear reactors spiraling out of control have killed fewer people per KWH generated than any other source of energy that human beings have come up with.