
Nuclear could be the clean energy source the world needs - ericdanielski
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/16/perspectives/nuclear-energy-green-goals/index.html
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bradknowles
If only it didn’t leave behind all that toxic effluent, which has a half life
measured in thousands of years.

~~~
ericdanielski
„Our brains are wired to notice big, red, unusual, and alarming signals, while
ignoring more mundane, unclear, gradual and constant risks. Air pollution? We
breathe all the time and we’re still here. It doesn’t end up on the brain’s
‘red list’ the same way. Wind and solar tech with rare earth minerals, mining
waste, future landfills sites stuffed with problematic elements? These wastes
are also toxic, but they just don’t ring our bells. Mining of rare earth
minerals and the toxic waste left over from that process (which is also
radioactive, by the way) is an actual dystopian wasteland -level disaster in
Baotou, China, at this very moment, but this does not really get on our radar.
Mining operations, in fact, all result in harmful consequences to the
environment, and the volumes of materials needed are a major factor in that
impact. Nuclear’s material requirements per energy produced, and thus its
mining waste, are considerably much lower than most other energy forms.”

[https://thoughtscapism.com/2017/11/04/nuclear-waste-ideas-
vs...](https://thoughtscapism.com/2017/11/04/nuclear-waste-ideas-vs-reality/)

