Fuel rod removal: Fukushima’s most dangerous operation yields first successes

[MineralMan]

71. Nuclear power generation was very, very attractive

as an option at one time. For a while, new nuclear plants were being built willy-nilly all over the planet, many times in places that were very unsuitable for them: Diablo Canyon in California and Fukushima, to name just two unfortunate decisions on placement of a plant.

Eventually, people who questioned the wisdom of building so many nuclear power generation facilities finally managed to at least force some regulations that took some such factors into consideration. But, by that time, it was too late, really, and aging facilities began to fail, sometimes in more or less spectacular ways. TMI, Chernobyl, Fukushima, etc.

The problem of storing spent fuel for the time necessary still remains to be solved. Nobody wants it around, so it is just stored at the facilities, for the most part. Looking at Hanford, for example, that is another problem that needs a solution.

In the end, nuclear power generation has turned out to have been a very bad idea. Not only is it not "electricity so cheap you won't even get a bill for it," it has become a costly and persistent money sink for those who have built the plants. Nobody really thought long term, and by the time they did, it was too late, and plants were scattered across the world.

I started questioning the wisdom of nuclear power generation in about 1960, following the partial meltdown of the first commercial power reactor at Santa Susana, CA. I lived nearby. It was kept a secret, sort of, but even as a high school kid in a nearby town, I knew about the meltdown, and started studying the issue and nuclear power generation.

Nuclear Power Generation is not safe. It cannot be made to be safe.

Nevertheless, there are nuclear plants all over the freaking place. They are there. We have to deal with them as best we can. Fukushima happened. Now, we must deal with the consequences of our choices. May it go well.