Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
technologyreview.com
Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
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Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#2Another reason for the "country’s shrinking appetite for nuclear" that I can cite is the North Korean terrorist threat.
Rationally, there is little reason for the North Korean state to cause long term damage to a soil that they claim belongs to them, and also the number of such attacks is now close to zero, but as we all know this kind of fear will not go away.
Renewables could work as a replacement, but this may only further weaken South Korea's position in the energy sector in the 21st century. They have a large petroleum and natural gas refining sector, which as we know needs to be phased out. What will be their trajectory in this context?
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#3Friendly PSA: do not dare to question nuclear energy safety on HN. I've seen no other subject which triggers such vitriolic responses as this, you'll be called a flat-earther anti-vaxxer luddite, you'll be told "coal kills more..." and so on.
> After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, most reactor builders had tacked on a slew of new safety features. KHNP followed suit but later realized that the astronomical cost of these features would make the APR1400 much too expensive to attract foreign clients.
> “They eventually removed most of them,” says Park, who now teaches nuclear engineering at Dongguk University. “Only about 10% to 20% of the original safety additions were kept.”
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#4Friendly PSA: do not dare to question nuclear energy safety on HN. I've seen no other subject which triggers such vitriolic responses as this, you'll be called a flat-earther anti-vaxxer luddite, you'll be told "coal kills more..." and so on. > After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, most reactor builders had tacked on a slew of new safety features. KHNP followed suit but later realized that the astronomical cost of th…
Do you have actual data to counter that narrative? Or just a single unsourced anecdote?
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#5Yeah there was greed and corruption but as the article says other countries have stopped too:
>A similar reversal is beginning in China, until recently seen as nuclear energy’s biggest champion. There, as in South Korea, Fukushima awakened public fears and forced the government to adopt tougher safety standards, which now threaten to push the cost of nuclear power out of reach. Of the world’s other major producers of nuclear power, only Russia is still aggressively building more reactors...
I hope renewables and batteries play out.
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#6Another reason for the "country’s shrinking appetite for nuclear" that I can cite is the North Korean terrorist threat. Rationally, there is little reason for the North Korean state to cause long term damage to a soil that they claim belongs to them, and also the number of such attacks is now close to zero, but as we all know this kind of fear will not go away. Renewables could work as a replacement, but this may onl…
"Renewables could work as a replacement"
No. They can't as long as cheap energy storage on mass scales doesn't exist. Case in point: closing nuclear plants and replacing them with renewables is what Germany has been trying to do and has failed to do so far. They essentially replaced (and will continue to replace) nuclear by renewables paired with coal and gas plants running on standby. They can't cold start these plants fast enough to catch dips in energy production from renewables.
You simply can't replace a constant energy source (nuclear) by an intermittent one (most renewables).
I'm guessing South Korea will go the same route as "good example" Germany. Push renewables. Which translates to; close nuclear plants, invest heavily in solar and wind paired with gas and coal. End result: more CO2 emissions, higher consumer energy prices, but most importantly: a clean reputation through good intentions.
Renewables at this stage are more about politically correct marketing than about clean and safe energy.
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#7Friendly PSA: do not dare to question nuclear energy safety on HN. I've seen no other subject which triggers such vitriolic responses as this, you'll be called a flat-earther anti-vaxxer luddite, you'll be told "coal kills more..." and so on. > After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, most reactor builders had tacked on a slew of new safety features. KHNP followed suit but later realized that the astronomical cost of th…
Do you have actual data to counter that narrative? Or just a single unsourced anecdote?
Why does the nuclear industry require the Price-Anderson act to subsidize insurance for it? Or what happened to the whistleblower Karen Silkwood?
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have actual data to counter that narrative? Or just a single unsourced anecdote?
Why does the nuclear industry require the Price-Anderson act to subsidize insurance for it? Or what happened to the whistleblower Karen Silkwood?
Because a coal power plant is much harder to pin $12.6 billion in direct damage to? Sure they produce pollution that affects millions and contribute to CO2 emissions that affect billions, but it's much harder to point to them as a single source.
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#9I thought greed and corruption were good for industry...
Re: Greed and corruption blew up South Korea’s nuclear industry
#10Friendly PSA: do not dare to question nuclear energy safety on HN. I've seen no other subject which triggers such vitriolic responses as this, you'll be called a flat-earther anti-vaxxer luddite, you'll be told "coal kills more..." and so on. > After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, most reactor builders had tacked on a slew of new safety features. KHNP followed suit but later realized that the astronomical cost of th…
Having been on the receiving end of this little downvote coalition for daring to state facts about the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini sites, I can confirm that this is an oddly hot-button issue on HN.