The China Syndrome

[70salesguy]

Originally Posted by reggaenaut

It put a damper on nuclear proliferation.

The term "nuclear proliferation" generally refers to nuclear weapons, their development, research and deployment, not peaceful use for power production.

Although it is debatable whether or not the movie had any effect on the slowdown and eventual stop of the construction and operation of nuclear power production facilities, it certainly was a reflection of an attitude held by a certain group of people who opposed nuclear power as a concept.

Looking back all these many years, what did they accomplish?

They DID accomplish the eventual halt of several plants in the planning stage and several more in the early phases of construction. All that they hoped to accomplish through their protest and spread of disinformation with their campaign of fear and ignorance did not directly stop the industry. However, the greatly increased burden of onerous regulations shifted the economics of commercial power production to a point where at the time, the long term picture did not justify the expense.

As a result of this, we have built untold numbers of fossil plants which carry a much higher burden to the environment as well as left ourselves dangerously short of "rolling reserve", that amount of additional electrical production capacity that is available when needed for peak periods of use. This peak capacity has been ever increasingly provided by CT units, combustion turbines which are actually specially designed jet engines to run generators for short periods of high demand.

In the event that the electric car becomes viable for large numbers of people, where is this power going to come from? A major shift to electric vehicles will create a huge demand for electric power to charge these vehicles,

Fortunately, several domestic utilities have began the long and arduous process to attempt to build new commercial nuclear power facilities. Currently, France produces over 80% of electricity via nuclear power.

In a world with an ever increasing demand for energy, I hope that the US is successful in building new commercial nuclear power facilities, unless many of you folks have amplifiers that run on solar power! (I know that we have at least one AKer that has raised the question).

[reggaenaut]

Originally Posted by 70salesguy

The term "nuclear proliferation" generally refers to nuclear weapons, their development, research and deployment, not peaceful use for power production.

.

True but the distinction is often blurred: folks who want to develop nuclear weapons usually claim that that they are just want to build a station or two for peaceful purpose. After the film nobody wanted a nuclear facility in their backyard.

[soundmotor]

Originally Posted by onwardjames

And don't any of you old-timers do Sir Charleton's final statement at the end!

The "You maniacs....you blew it all up!" one?

[whoaru99]

Try "The Andromeda Strain" or "Soylent Green"

Or "A Clockwork Orange" if you've not already seen it.

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by whoaru99

Or "A Clockwork Orange" if you've not already seen it.

I have not seen any of those 3.........Only thing I kow about any of them is that Michael Crichton wrote the book The Andromeda Strain was based off of, and there is a Transcriptors TT in A clockwork Orange.

[markthefixer]

Originally Posted by soundmotor

The "You maniacs....you blew it all up!" one?

THAT was the Planet of the apes........... we were talking about Soylent Green.....

[markthefixer]

Originally Posted by reggaenaut

True but the distinction is often blurred: folks who want to develop nuclear weapons usually claim that that they are just want to build a station or two for peaceful purpose. After the film nobody wanted a nuclear facility in their backyard.

After I read the book Lucifer's Hammer I WANTED to live NEXT to a Nuclear Power Plant.

Of course a lot of the consulting jobs I worked in the past, few wanted to take because they somehow involved radiation. My cumulative lifetime exposure is STILL zero, and I DO own an operative Geiger Counter. So the words that scare the crap out of people don't bother me in the least bit.

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by reggaenaut

It put a damper on nuclear proliferation.

I think Three Mile Island, which melted down two weeks after the movie was released may have had more to do with it.

[70salesguy]

The events at TMI certainly were a factor.

The irony is that the TMI proved that the the "safety in depth" design worked. In spite of an equipment failure AND errors in judgement by operations personnel, no one was hurt and no significant release of radiation occurred.

As far as public opinion was concerned, the events at Chernobyl were a factor as well. Of course, most people had no sense of understanding that we don't have reactors in the US designed to produce both power and weapons grade plutonium.

Another movie that did its part to damage the nuclear industry was Silkwood.

Speaking of the NIMBY philosophy (not in my back yard), I'd much rather have a nuclear power plant as a neighbor than a fossil fuel plant. Of course, Senator Kennedy has stood in the way of wind power mills being placed near Nantucket Sound!

Bringing this back closer to the original intent of this thread, movies definitely can have an effect on public opinion when the subject has any controversy attached to it. Thank goodness we have Oliver Stone to tell us how and why JFK was actually killed!

[birddog]

David, some excellent movies were suggested by the others (Although "Clockwork Orange" may be a bit much for your tender young mind. You will never be able to listen to classical music again with conjuring up images from the film) and I have one to ad to the mix.

Try to find a copy of "RollerBall", the original version, not the crappy remake from a few years ago. Great statement of social/corporate reality in a future world, with the violent sport of "RollerBall" as the vehicle that drives the film.

Another fantastic flik is "Westworld" with Yul Brenner as a malfunctioning robot gunslinger in a futuristic adult theme park, a must see in my book, along with the other films mentioned!

"Death Race 2000" is another flik about a violent future sport, about a televised coast to coast race where points are earned for running down pedestrians, and eliminating other drivers from the race. The underground resistance is trying to sabotage the race, and underneath the bad acting, hoky costumes, and strange cars, there is some poignant social commentary that make this a film worth seeing. Sylvester Stallone as "Machine Gun Joe Viterbo" is worth the price of admission alone, just so you can see how little his acting has improved since 1975!

"A Clockwork Orange": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/

"RollerBall": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073631/

"Westworld": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070909/

"Death Race 2000": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072856/

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by birddog

David, some excellent movies were suggested by the others (Although "Clockwork Orange" may be a bit much for your tender young mind. You will never be able to listen to classical music again with conjuring up images from the film) and I have one to ad to the mix.

Try to find a copy of "RollerBall", the original version, not the crappy remake from a few years ago. Great statement of social/corporate reality in a future world, with the violent sport of "RollerBall" as the vehicle that drives the film.

Another fantastic flik is "Westworld" with Yul Brenner as a malfunctioning robot gunslinger in a futuristic adult theme park, a must see in my book, along with the other films mentioned!

"Death Race 2000" is another flik about a violent future sport, about a televised coast to coast race where points are earned for running down pedestrians, and eliminating other drivers from the race. The underground resistance is trying to sabotage the race, and underneath the bad acting, hoky costumes, and strange cars, there is some poignant social commentary that make this a film worth seeing. Sylvester Stallone as "Machine Gun Joe Viterbo" is worth the price of admission alone, just so you can see how little his acting has improved since 1975!

"A Clockwork Orange": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/

"RollerBall": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073631/

"Westworld": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070909/

"Death Race 2000": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072856/

I will check these out as son as I can (-:

Thanks for the recommendations. I love movies. It's theonly time my TV ever gets turned on.

[Twenty20Man]

oliver stone....laffing if he did a documentary about lava i would no longer believe in volcanos

[slow_jazz]

Rollerball was a great movie.

I was working at Detroit Edison's Fermi II plant when the movie came out and it helped me stay working for several more years as they triple checked everything....

[Rat44]

I used to haul spent fuel for a living back in the 80's. Had to deal with uninformed protesters all the time. They didn't realize my glow in the dark hands on my watch were emitting more radiation than the load I was transporting. The containers were designed to take a direct hit from a train and survive intact.

[Dynacophil]

if you like a bit trashy SF movies, don't forget "Dark Star" by Carpenter of 1974........
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069945/


Dialog:

Doolittle: Hello, Bomb? Are you with me?
Bombe 20: Of course.
Doolittle: Are you willing to entertain a few concepts?
Bombe 20: I am always receptive to suggestions.
Doolittle: Fine. Think about this then. How do you know you exist?
Bombe 20: Well, of course I exist.
Doolittle: But how do you know you exist?
Bombe 20: It is intuitively obvious.
Doolittle: Intuition is no proof. What concrete evidence do you have that you exist?
Bombe 20: Hmmmm.....well.....I think, therefore I am.
Doolittle: That's good. That's very good. But how do you know that anything else exists?
Bombe 20: My sensory apparatus reveals it to me. This is fun!
Doolittle: Now, listen, listen. Here's the big question. How do you know that the evidence your sensory apparatus reveals to you is correct? What I'm getting at is this. The only experience that is directly available to you is your sensory data. This sensory data is merely a stream of electrical impulses that stimulate your computing center.
Bombe 20: In other words, all that I really know about the outside world is relayed to me through my electrical connections.
Doolittle: Exactly!
Bombe 20: Why...that would mean that...I really don't know what the outside universe is really like at all for certain.
Doolittle: That's it! That's it!
Bombe 20: Intriguing. I wish I had more time to discuss this matter.
Doolittle: Why don't you have more time?
Bombe 20: Because I must detonate in 75 seconds.
Doolittle: Wait! Wait! Now, bomb, consider this next question very carefully. What is your one purpose in life?
Bombe 20: To explode, of course.
Doolittle: And you can only do it once, right?
Bombe 20: That is correct.
Doolittle: And you wouldn't want to explode on the basis of false data, would you?
Bombe 20: Of course not.
Doolittle: Well then, you've already admitted that you have no real proof of the existence of the outside universe.
Bombe 20: Yes...well...
Doolittle: You have no absolute proof that Sergeant Pinback ordered you to detonate.
Bombe 20: I recall distinctly the detonation order. My memory is good on matters like these.
Doolittle: Of course you remember it, but all you remember is merely a series of sensory impulses which you now realize have no real, definite connection with outside reality.
Bombe 20: True. But since this is so, I have no real proof that you're telling me all this.
Doolittle: That's all beside the point. I mean, the concept is valid no matter where it originates.
Bombe 20: Hmmmm....
Doolittle: So, if you detonate...
Bombe 20: In nine seconds....
Doolittle: ...you could be doing so on the basis of false data.
Bombe 20: I have no proof it was false data.
Doolittle: You have no proof it was correct data!
Bombe 20: I must think on this further.