
From Wasteland to Fund-Maker: A Contrarian Bet in Nuclear Waste Cleanup - jeffreyw5000
https://medium.com/@lux_capital/from-wasteland-to-fund-maker-4c7aab08c45f#.8ylbz41dq
======
pc2g4d
Vitrification has been around for decades.[1] And the fact that they seem to
be taking complete credit for cleaning up Fukishima (as if it were completely
cleaned up) is ridiculous.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield#Waste_Vitrification...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield#Waste_Vitrification_Plant)

~~~
brianbreslin
I'm curious how much they have contributed to the cleanup.

~~~
ChuckMcM
As am I, reports of widespread wildlife dying? Seems hard to believe when
nobody else reported it.

~~~
mikeyouse
Some reports have come out about mass bird deaths, a group did a study that
saw large population decreases;

[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/birds-are-
tails...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/birds-are-tailspin-
four-years-after-fukushima-180955134/)

~~~
pdkl95
That article already explains:

    
    
        They offer no good controls, because we aren’t
        working with data from before the accident.
    

It's rough Geiger counter reading without any effort to determine if those
readings are _normal_ , or if there is an increase then which isotopes are
causing the reading and where they came from.

That last point is especially important, because when Japan shut down the
nuclear reactors after the tsunami, they increased their use of coal, which
can be a larger source of radioactive pollution.

Also, while the article doesn't really have enough details to say for certain,
using only Geiger readings suggests an analysis based on the incorrect "linear
no-threshold" model. The lack of concern for a control suggests they are
assuming that any radiation is must be dangerous.

After skimming the paper[1]... I'll have to defer to someone with a better
background in statistics. Their modeling seems strange and there seems to be
too much focus on P values, but that may be my misunderstanding.

[1]
[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-015-1197-2/f...](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-015-1197-2/fulltext.html)

------
rossport
Very inspiring article. Great thesis backed with excellent execution - very
impressive work from a vc.

------
stupandaus
Really interesting take on energy, especially relative to over-concentration
in cleantech that other investors bought into at the time

