Um. I'm not so sure that's accurate. Chernobyl and Fukushima are uninhabitable, and will be as such for many years to come. As we increase fission reactors, risk will increase as well. Ironically, perhaps due to climate change.
The question is: if we commit to fission, are we simply trading one problem disaster for another? Put another way, given our collective (lack of) response to CC, should our track record on decision making be trusted?
What area are we taking about here, and is it truly inhabitable or is it just the same flawed logic that caused the Japanese government to evacuate the area when there was no sense in doing so?
Climate disaster? To who? Humans? Mother Nature, on average isn't concerned. She adjusts. She evolves. History is clear on this. Radiation on the other hand is all but permanent. Climate disaster is a self-inflicted death blow by humans to humans.
No it isn't. The purpose of a nuclear reactor is to take highly radioactive material found in nature, cook off a bunch of its radioactive energy (producing power in the process), and create less-radioactive material as a by-product. The waste that comes out at the end is less radioactive than the material we started with, albeit much more concentrated. But that makes it easier to handle and store, compared to the CO2 and other greenhouse gases that are spewed out all over the place.
If we dumped all that radioactive waste into the ocean (BAD IDEA), mother nature would dilute it for us and spread it out until it disappears into the natural background radiation. The drawback is that it'll be dangerous to everything that encounters it before it's diluted, so we can't do that.
> The waste that comes out at the end is less radioactive than the material we started with, albeit much more concentrated.
This is not true. Nuclear fuel not highly radioactive. Their use in nuclear reactors stems from the fact that they emit two neutrons when hit with one, producing a chain reaction. Their byproducts are much more radioactive than the original fuel.
It’s also a bad idea because the “waste” might end up being useful/valuable to future generations. It’s only considered waste right now because we currently have no purpose for it.
As opposed to the raw uranium that we dug out of the ground? I don’t recall nature storing that inside radiation-proof barrels.
Also there’s the pesky fact of half-life. Ignorant anti-nuclear activists seem to think that nuclear waste is extremely dangerous and lasts for centuries. Nope. Nuclear material can either be imminently dangerous or have a centuries long half-life. It can’t be both.
That's fair. I can emphasize :) But this idea of "we need to save the planet..." is a false narrative. It might even be distracted and overwhelming. The Truth is, we need to save ourselves from us. And in that context it's important not to overlook that context and continue with our hubris-based mindset. So yeah, nuclear may or may not be a wise choice. Furthermore, if it isn't enough and we come up short on CC then we'll have at least two high priority lonlong term problems to deal with.
People choose not to live there, but plenty of wildlife does. Which is different from saying it's uninhabitable. People could live there. People haven't because an increased risk for cancer and birth defects. Which is a far cry from saying it's not livable. Chernobyl is basically a wild life sanctuary now. Nature is doing better off because of the lack of human presence.
The question is: if we commit to fission, are we simply trading one problem disaster for another? Put another way, given our collective (lack of) response to CC, should our track record on decision making be trusted?