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Comment by zardo | Hacker News Reader

> “Radioactive pollutants build up in the cooling water,” said Judson. “In order for the plant to continue functioning properly, they have to discharge them. Some of it is vented out of the smokestack and some of it is released into the water.”

Is there any truth to that? That is not how I thought a nuclear power plant worked.

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Technically... yes. Nuclear plants routinely discharge a certain amount of tritiated water and radioactive gases. But it's well below natural radioactivity levels and certainly MUCH smaller than amount of "radioactive pollutants" released into environment by coal plants.

A massive misrepresentation of what’s actually happening. Cooling water is completely sealed off from the main loop, they exchange heat through a coil with lots of metal fins, which may leak tritium, but if you’ve ever been in a basement or eaten a banana you’ve seen worse.

No. Coal plants on the other hand: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-...

> The chances of experiencing adverse health effects from radiation are slim for both nuclear and coal-fired power plants—they're just somewhat higher for the coal ones. "You're talking about one chance in a billion for nuclear power plants," Christensen says. "And it's one in 10 million to one in a hundred million for coal plants."

Only in the most pedantic sense that tiny amounts of tritium permeate through the heat exchangers. This discharge is negligible in terms of health impact.

said by "Tim Judson, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), a group that advocates for sustainable energy without nuclear power"

Awesome. Articles are quoting English majors on the nuances of nuclear danger...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-judson-85aa4014/

"Specialties: Organizational and Campaign Strategy, Policy Research and Analysis, Strategic Messaging and Communications, Field Organizing, Campaign Logistics, Government Relations, Grassroots Organizational Development"

Think about it terms of throwing bananas into the water

They make a splash?

So many more apropos sayings instead like "tears in the rain" or "drops in the ocean"

> So many more apropos sayings instead…

Here's why the parent chose bananas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose

Interesting. TIL

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