A BOE Estimate of Deaths Connected with Coal Combustion in Wyoming.

[thought crime]

3. Edwin Lyman continues to tell the truth about the dangerous and uneconomical nuclear industry.

The truth is that Nuclear Reactors are so inherently dangerous that they must be super-regulated in design, construction, operation, and decommissioning, and waste storage. The regulatory "burden" makes the design and construction process very, very slow and costly, resulting in legal hurdles as well. The very high cost at each phase requires government subsidies far beyond anything we see in the renewable energy industries. What is the cost of storing radioactive waste across many generations, with inevitable leakage problems causing hugely expensive clean-up and driving cost even higher? The Trump Administration is trying to reduce regulation to reduce cost, but that is a trade-off. Risk will increase.

Nuclear vs renewable energy is not a zero-sum game; both could be used to reduce the use of carbon based fuels. But we must look beyond the laws of thermodynamics and consider economics, public safety, and environmental impacts. Renewable energy industries have economic momentum and are inherently less risky. Power to X (P2X) strategies like Wind-to-Hydrogen will overcome the problem of intermittent availability. The "Nuclear Bros" should see renewables as a friend that buys them time for better, safer reactor designs, and spend more of their considerable mental energy thinking about Fusion.