[lbo-talk] catastrophy

Joseph Green jgreen at communistvoice.org
Wed Mar 16 18:39:50 PDT 2011


Wojtek wrote, defending his claim that there haven't been any French nuclear accidents:


>
> Joseph Green: "Really? That "fact" came to you in a seance, perhaps?"
>
> [WS:] No. It comes from this source
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_meltdown, which does not mention any
> French reactors on its list.
>

That wasn't a list of nuclear accidents, but only of one category of severe accidents, the meltdowns. (And by the way, it lists six American nuclear meltdowns.) So it turns out that you had no evidence for your assertion, which was broader than that, that there were no French "accidents". Even if one restricts oneself to the wikipedia, which doesn't seem to be a neutral source on this, there are a number of other listings of nuclear accidents, and they do include France.


> And while we are at that - how many fatalities are attributed to
> nuclear meltdowns worldwide,

So you are still defending your claim by saying that only meltdowns are important? As to the fatalities from the meltdowns, that's a matter of controversy. As to the threat of fatalities from meltdowns, that's immense. And as to deaths from the nuclear program, that can't be restricted to meltdowns.

and how does that number compare to
> people dies in accidents in coal mines, oil rigs and refineries, coal
> power plants, and pollution generated by them?
>
You argue like a industry apologist. The fact is that both coal and nuclear powers are dangers. The problems, and the fatalities, from nuclear power aren't restricted to meltdowns. Meltdowns are regarded as particularly dangerous because an accident at a single plant could threaten vast areas, such as entire cities or other areas. And radioactive contamination can last for a long, long time. Of course, oil spills are another case where a single accident can affect vast areas. And the oil and gas and coal industries in their massive operations threaten vast areas (even aside from their effect on global warming). But then again, uranium mining, the transport and storage of radioactive waste, the connection of the civilian and the military nuclear industry, the need for security for nuclear facilities, etc. also have their toll.

-Joseph Green jgreen at communistvoice.org


> Wojtek
>

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