Quote Originally Posted by twilyth View Post
True, but with a regular reactor, the worst that happens is that it melts down. It wouldn't go to china though, since the heat at the core of our planet is probably driven by radioactive decay of uranium. So once it gets to the center of the earth it will either kill all the dinosaurs hiding there or merge with the core. OT I know, but it seemed like a fun tangent.

With PBR's, the worst that happens is the reactor doesn't work. The pebbles will survive without any active cooling - unlike the Chernobyl design, which as I recall was considered a poorly designed reactor.
I think you have this wrong. The China Syndrome is a misnomer as what happens is it does "meltdown" till it hits groundwater then the sudden huge amount of steam generated causes an explosion and the radioactive parts are tossed into the atmosphere upto and including the troposphere..From there it is into the wind currents and depending on the weight of the particles drops to earth or is carried in the winds till rain drops the particles..
The basic point to me is that since ONE error can be so catastrophic, why would any sane person choose this technology over solar,wind,hydro or geothermal?
Now I may not be the smartest person alive but I'm no dunce either.
I just can't see the logic.