RE: RE: Common sense prevailsThis should be considered good news by everyone.
I'd like to know what experts would have to say about it, but it is my understanding that most (or all) the Fukushima mess would have been avoided with a third generation reactor:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_III_reactor
Passive nuclear safety is a safety feature of a
nuclear reactorthat does not require operator actions or electronic feedback in orderto shut down safely in the event of a particular type of emergency
(usually overheating resulting from a loss of coolantor loss of coolant flow). Such reactors tend to rely more on theengineering of components such that their predicted behaviour accordingto known
laws of physicswould slow, rather than accelerate, the nuclear reactionin such circumstances. This is in contrast to some older reactordesigns, where the natural tendency for the reaction was to acceleraterapidly from increased temperatures, such that either electronicfeedback or operator triggered intervention was necessary to preventdamage to the reactor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passively_safe
Anyway, most definitely any new reactor should be of the third generation, and the second generation reactors should be scrapped or replaced as fast as possible. And maybe we'll have a bright, safe, clean, ecological and economical future with the fourth generation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor
But at that point, for sure, uranium mining won't be a good investment !