The risks of tsjernobyl, would an organisation like CERN judge such a reactor, would be much higher than the risk that the Sovjet Union judged.
A risk of 0.000001% judged by a "science and welfare"-driven party is a neglectible risk. For if not, why haven't we started creating an anti-meteorite defense system yet? Granted such a risk is not manmade, still the answer would be: too costly compared to the neglectible risk.

But I do wonder how the reactor meltdown risk was judged in Japan. Did they anticipate a future earthquake? Did they took their chances by building one regardless, because they needed it for their progress?

Errors happen, but I am confident that nuclear reactor designs are now made in such a way that thermal meltdowns, like the one that almost happened in tsjernobyl, are simply not possible anymore. We are experienced enough to fully master the science; both on level of organisation/management and scientific knowledge. There's not a soul wandering through CERN that doesn't know what everything does. Unlike tsjernobyl. I believe we have grown up in that.

However, I can cope with the idea that, unless the whole world has grown up, we must not start building nuclear reactors everywhere. While we may have them under control, a terrorist attack could not be ruled out.

any terrorist can strap a dirty bomb under a car and drive into a highly populated area. Should we now ban cars because they run the risk of being used to set off a radiation bomb?

Oh boy, no way. Think about Opel, we saved them for no reason if we would ban cars! Better ban terrorist!

the risk isn't 0.000001%. it's more like 1% if you take into account all accidents and the total number of plants. ok, newer plants are safer but at the moment the risk still is 1% with all the old crappy ones around. russia even still runs many chernobyl type plants.

a dirty bomb doesn't consist of tons of material. such comparisons are silly.

@joozey: those commercial "space" flights use rockets too. they just don't start from the ground but from an airplane. and they basically just are longer parabola flights. they aren't able to reach an orbit and they probably won't anytime soon since if it would be that easy they would have gone into space that way much sooner. i guess this still will take a lot of research in scramjets and such stuff.

i also remember how my mother pulled me out of my sand pit and put me under the shower for half an hour as a kid.

edit:
who will build the sarcophargus in japan if worst comes to worst? this isn't the inhuman ussr where 100000s of soldiers can be forced to do it.

What I want to say was:
Every risk is too high when it comes to nuclear power.
Because the impact is irretrievable.

From wikipedia:


You can be sure that japan has done a good job here. I mean take a look at all the other power plants that survived the earthquake.

But it´s not enough and you can actually never be sure that it´s enough.
You can´t design accidents. Accidents get designed by itself.

http://www.infowars.com/alert-fukushima-coverup-40-years-of-spent-nuclear-rods-blown-sky-high/

EU-Energiekommissar warnt vor katastrophalen Ereignissen "in den kommenden Stunden"

what do you think this means?

it means that panic sells...
nothings gona happen...

Even the experts don´t seem to know what will happen.
Finally they seem to accept murphy.

I think the truth lies inbetween "OMG the earth is kaput" and "nothings gona happen".

sPIKe, you know the consequences of chernobyl.
Take this and add high density of population, more material, up to six reactors.
Then add common sense and unpredictable reactor behaviour.
The chances are big that there will be a massive contamination of a lot of people.


Sorry, I´ve got some relatives by marriage in japan.
They have survived the tsunami and the earthquakes.
And now they are jumping out from the frying pan into the fire.

The latest photos look by far more worrying than any short note or article concerning the disaster was so far...

I don't how much is true of the article linked by Ventilator... but if this picture shows the truth...

... things are pretty much fucked up.

Now look at the Fukushima plant again...