2006-10-21 12:45:05 · 6 answers · asked by Alain G 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Certainly a lot of care and effort goes into the design, operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants to eliminate/reduce risks. The question of something being safe or unsafe is usually a subjective one as very few things indeed are without some risk. Engineers if they are not to be blinded by a false sense of security have to look at risk and how to manage it. The lessons learnt by past problems have to be taken on board to make engineering even more secure in the future. Sorry I have avoided answering your question as my instinct is that I would prefer to only reach the verdict of safe if I had a detailed knowledge of the engineering of a particular system and my verdict could not be seen as facile.
2006-10-21 16:24:53 · answer #1 · answered by Robert A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, they're not safe. Chernobyl killed thousands of people, and could have killed many more if on that day the wind had been blowing in the direction of Kiev which is only 60 miles (100 km) away. Kiev is now home to over 2 Million people.
People don't realize what a close call TMI (Three Mile Island) was.
Also, nuclear plants produce a lot of extremely toxic waste. Processing it is complicated, expensive, and produces even more dangerous waste products.
Unfortunately, I think some of the advocates have most likely made up their minds beforehand that they want nuclear power plants, so you should question them, since they may have ulterior motives. There's a lot that goes on behind the political scenes, and they may not be forthcoming about the reasons for arriving at their decision. For example, I think it's clear that some countries like Iran and North Korea want the power plants so that they can obtain material to make nuclear bombs. If we operate nuclear plants, does that mean we are supporting the proliferation of WMDs? If we are spending billions of dollars to fight a war on terror, should that factor in to the decision?
If you stepped back and did an unbiased comparison of the nuclear power vs. wind power, I think you would find that wind power is better overall than nuclear, so why even gamble with nuclear? We are in an energy crisis, and we don't need another crisis to add to our problems.
2006-10-23 16:14:10 · answer #2 · answered by _ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Properly operated and inspected, they are. More people have died from accidents in coal-fired plants than in nuclear plants. We do need to work out a long-term storage plan for the waste, though.
2006-10-21 12:59:46 · answer #3 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes they are but the regular power plants are not bad. Granted they produce CO2 but that is not bad either. the environmentalist want u to think that the CO2 has increased WRONG . Go and measure it there is so Little CO2 that you cant hardly measure it,our air system also includes the green plants ,so quit calculating what u think it should be and just measure it. The green plants need CO2 and we need oxygen.
2006-10-21 12:52:27 · answer #4 · answered by JOHNNIE B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's an awful lot of them and only one disaster comes to mind (Chernobyl) so I guess as long as everyone pays attention and all the safety systems are functioning properly, they are safer than any interstate highway.
2006-10-21 12:53:12 · answer #5 · answered by Nc Jay 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you keep a stable pressure and heat they are safe enought
But when small mistakes happens , BIG problems happen also
2006-10-21 23:37:07 · answer #6 · answered by shady 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋