cryptoleft

I was having a conversation about nuclear energy recently, and I know it’s popular across the political spectrum these days so I thought I’d publicly share why I’m against it. 

Nuclear still depends on a finite resource compared to something like sunlight which never can be diminished with use. So what, we stop using one finite resource (fossil fuels) just so we can start fighting over who controls access over another? I know it’s more abundant and so efficient yada yada but… induced demand, you know what I’m saying? And don’t get me started on nuclear waste. If you look at the world today, governments can’t keep commitments for a decade ahead and you’re telling me we can keep the waste secure for centuries or millennia? Give me a break. It’s the height of irresponsibility to future generations. See, the thing is, if you want a “solar punk” utopia, the energy systems must be circular, self contained. And nuclear definitely is not.

Curious what cryptoleft folks thoughts on nuclear energy are

Urbanist thinking about open places, open access, and open web
/urbanism + https://zora.co/@miawintam

Wanted to add to the discussion the point of vulnerability of nuclear as targets in warfare and terrorism. 

Modern nuclear reactor designs are indeed safer and do reduce meltdown risks, but consider that the modern threat profile has also evolved (autonomous drones and cyberattacks). Even a well designed reactor is a high-value target to terrorism or in war precisely because of the energy density of nuclear. A successful attack may not cause full meltdown, but still disrupt critical systems enough to create local or regional disasters. (Also consider that the costs to launch drone and cyber attacks is already relatively low and trending ever lower)

A doodler and computerer. I like permissive/permissionless open source, smart contracts, p2p systems, room-scale VR, and NixOS.

shazow.net

Currently: WhatsABI

Why? Are there any forms of nuclear reactors that wouldn’t cause long term contamination when attacked in a way that say, a solar farm wouldn’t? If you know of any I’d genuinely like to know.

Great argument for a distributed power grid with many localized sources of power, but I don't think it's a strong argument against nuclear.