From the comment I left at Dave’s JHAT YouTube video
Thank you, Dave, for the balanced and informative view. But I must bring up the “externalities” that almost every nuclear power proponent fails to address.
One of the reasons why the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal, has to end is that the mining, processing and transportation of large amounts of fuels leaves a huge amount of mine waste and pollution with heavy metals. Nuclear fuels including thorium also share this same mining problem. The end product of natural nuclear decay is plumbum, AKA lead. This and other heavy metals contaminate the large amounts of mining waste that is left, typically at the mine site.
As the richer ores are mined and lower grade ores have to be processed the mine waste accumulates faster. The mining becomes less profitable and the companies have more reason the go out of business and walk away from what becomes a superfund toxic waste cleanup site. Then the taxpayers are stuck with the mess.
As for taxpayers here in the US it’s my understanding that they already subsidize the processing of enriched uranium fuel. So the utilities are getting a break on the cost of the fuel. And since it is not a renewable resource, it will only get more expensive as time goes on.
I haven’t brought up the issues of the shorter lifetimes and deaths caused by radiation added to the environment. Not necessarily from the power plants themselves, but from the mining wastes and fuel processing wastes left over. Take the Hanford site, where they joke about the radioactive rabbits that glow in the dark.
You mentioned other negatives and the Big Two are construction cost overruns and decades to bring a new NPP online. Along with the problems I stated, there are too many drawbacks for building new NPPs, in my opinion. Thank you for your informative videos.
