Originally Posted by
Hubcapped
A lot of what you say has validity. I like your idea of modular nuclear units going forward.
My one point of contention would be the inherent moral conundrum that you are alluding too. Just because we “think” it won’t make a difference, I feel it would. It paves the way through developing institutional knowledge for more efficient and robust networks in struggling nations. It starts the R&D process sooner, etc etc.
There are a lot of reasons to push for this, not just bury your head cause a bunch of selfish aholes on the other side of the planet don’t quite get the potential severity of this yet.
Lead by example, pave the way for the technology, go tii on Walmart and consume….done
The global warming models, if true, then constitute the classic ‘tragedy of the commons.’ That’s far more than a moral conundrum. If indeed the models are accurate and the “selfish aholes on the other side of the planet” don’t get it yet, it’s already too late. They have committed way too much to their present course to suddenly get religion now. Classically the response of any nation to an existential crisis was war.
China, having accumulated a significant excess of males due to their one-child policy and subsequent patriarchal focused selective abortions may be more inclined to do that than others. Pushing modular inherentl safe nuclear power technology and weaning them off coal seems to be a better prospect than going to war with them to decrease CO2 output. They simply lack the time and resources to go all renewable. Their GDP per capita was less than a fourth ours even before COVID lockdowns.