this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2026
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Externalized costs are a thing though. For instance, a coal plant spewing smoke (and radiation) costs everyone else money. A nuclear plant OTOH is usually responsible for dealing with all of its own shit. So it's not always an apples to apples comparison to consider just the profitability of a project.
Absolutely. I don't know that anyone is arguing for coal, except for Trump, but he's also completely deranged.
Wind and solar have very little externalities, however. I'd even call their externalities trivial.
Water vapor from the cooling tower is also a greenhouse gas but all heat exchange power plants at such scale emit it, and it condenses quickly (and increases albedo if the cloud is visible). Plus the nuclear waste, if not economical to recycle, may become its own long-term problem too. So the overall externalities of a nuclear power plant are small (it's the least deadly one!) but not zero.
It sure isn't apples to apples, but it's also not like nuclear plants actually dealt with their waste
Are you talking about current nuclear plants or the first generation ones built in the 50’s. Because that’s like using steam train safety to negate the use of modern trains.
Oh, I must've missed the point where nuclear plants started turning their fuel into mere satisfaction. Good thing the waste from the 50s is still around, I'm sure they can take care of it!