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Italian parliament votes for return to nuclear energy

908 points · 818 comments · geox

  1. jacquesm · · focus · HN ↗
    I've seen quite a few SMR proposals over the last couple of years and not a single one that dared to address the whole cycle from deployment to eventual decommission as a function of the total revenues - costs to operate. Most of these projects seem to be made to bilk investors or governments rather than to actually produce power. The day Italy produces the first KWh that is net profitable to the operators without counting subsidies I will be highly amazed, and that's assuming they get to operational in the first place.
    1. asmodeuslucifer · · focus · HN ↗
      I agree, I tell everyone who will listen that no country, not Russia, China, Japan, France, USA etc has ever made nuclear power profitable. And you can't blame it on the environmentalists in China and Russia.

      That being said, many countries consider it a national security issue not to be held hostage to foreign oil.

      1. tremon · · focus · HN ↗
        Why the myopic focus on profitability? Only one nation has succeeded in making healthcare profitable, please tell us how that has led to the best outcome for society?
        1. frumplestlatz · · focus · HN ↗
          And in a society that hasn’t made health care profitable (Italy), I waited 12 hours, literally on the floor, with a broken arm and covered in my own blood, before I was seen after a motorcycle accident.

          I literally would’ve been better off flying to New York. I still have scars and nerve damage from the incredibly poor care in Italy’s medical system.

          In the US, I was rushed into the ER in an ambulance and seen immediately after a car hit me while I was bicycling — and that was just because they were worried about the speed at which the accident occurred. They had me patched up within the hour. I was fine, road rash and sore for a couple weeks.

          There’s no silver bullet here, but I’m very sure that healthcare is not a good analogy for nuclear power.

          I’m also very sure that anyone that advocates for government healthcare should try actually using it in one of these countries. I hope you enjoy waiting and long-term adverse health effects from poor, delayed, and inaccessible care.

          1. amarcheschi · · focus · HN ↗
            >I’m also very sure that anyone that advocates for government healthcare should try actually using it in one of these countries

            I actually do since I'm Italian lol

            Don't get me wrong, what has happened to you feels at best a bad practice, at worst something that goes on the news or that has a legal proceeding afterwards. I've known people with good and bad experiences, I can't complain too much about it. Can I ask in which region? Italian Healthcare is somewhat region-dependant

            1. frumplestlatz · · focus · HN ↗
              This was at the Ospedale San Carlo di Nancy in Rome.
              1. amarcheschi · · focus · HN ↗
                Understood, never had to deal with healthcare in Lazio region
            2. belowavgiq · · focus · HN ↗
              Uhhh, some nerve damage, news worthy? Ho qualche dubbio al riguardo.

              Fellow italian here, let's not act like our third rate ERs never leave people suffering for hours without caring whether the pain comes from something that will have lasting consequences. My dad had this happen to him as well. Thank you

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