[throwaway122kk]

Greenpeace and the environmental movement have a lot to answer for,

thanks to their knee jerk reaction to nuclear one of the technologies (note that I say "one of", there is a range of choices, not an either/or black/white choice, as is so often case on internet discussions nowadays)

we ended up with more coal/oil power plants contributing towards climate change

nuclear could have been the bridging technology buying us decades to build up real renewables (and/or fusion) and provide base load, but no cant have that, ideology trumps pragmatism

[Pfhreak]

We are where we are now. Turn your effort towards the future -- how do we get to where we want to go from where we are today.

The same attitude applies in engineering -- post-mortems aren't about assigning blame, they are about understanding the current state and how you'll address or mitigate any failures so they don't happen again.

If you want to be backwards looking, at least focus on what the lesson is and how you will turn that lesson into concrete actions that prevent the same failure case in the future.

[melling]

In the future, there are 450 nuclear power plants that will need to replaced as they are retired.

There are about 100 nuclear plants in the United States generating 20% of the power.

[baot]

Unfortunately, pragmatism like yours sounds unconvincing compared to the more passionate positions of somebody against nuclear fission power. It doesn't mix well with an expensive project with a long development time that risks being cancelled in a temporary shift of public opinion.

[andbberger]

Greenpeace is a farce for sure, but surely some blame lies with big oil's lobbying efforts?

[08-15]

Are you saying these are two different things?

[eterm]

Greenpeace isn't that influential, the reality is that the economics of nuclear never added up.

Also, there really is something off-putting about leaving behind waste that lasts longer than civilisation has.

[omginternets]

France is a shining counter-example to your claim.

[mc32]

Enough to impress college kids and stay at home moms to protest and oppose construction of new plants.

[core-questions]

> Greenpeace and the environmental movement have a lot to answer for

Gut instinct is that they were sponsored by shell corporations / charities to go after nuclear et. al. and leave other vested interests alone.

[greedo]

I've heard rumors that their budget dropped precipitously after the fall of the Berlin Wall...