Quote:
Originally Posted by cnredd
Also, there hasn't been a nuclear reactor built in the US in decades...
If one (or more) were to be built now, a majority of the problems faced in the 70s & 80s aren't relevant because of new technology...
We'd be much more nuclear now if it wasn't for the NIMBYs... 
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I agree whole-heartedly, but I have to throw in this qualifier...
When I went through the nuclear training for the Navy, we reviewed the historic nuclear accidents.
The accidents happening typically weren't relying on a deficiency in technology (or at least not exclusively), but rather just plain stupid human error.
Some of them were mind-bogglingly STUPID in that people specifically IGNORED the rules and operated equipment in explicit violation of what they had been trained to do.
One incident involved people assuming that an indication was stuck (and wrong) for hours during which it indicated a trouble condition. Kind of like continuing to drive your car after you see the temperature is in the red zone, but assuming it was wrong.
Chernobyl was one human error after another, compounding upon compounding.