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cover of episode O'Keefe believes lithium ion batteries are deadlier than nuclear power

O'Keefe believes lithium ion batteries are deadlier than nuclear power

2024/7/11
logo of podcast 2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe

2GB Drive with Chris O'Keefe

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Chris O'Keefe 认为,与核电相比,锂离子电池对人类生命构成更大的威胁。他指出,自1945年以来,全球约有500人死于核事故,其中大部分发生在20世纪以前,且许多是由于放射治疗或医学核实验。相比之下,仅在过去两年中,就有近300人死于锂离子电池引发的火灾。他以福岛核事故为例,指出该事故直接导致一人死亡,而最近韩国一家锂离子电池厂火灾则导致22人死亡。他还批评澳大利亚工党使用带有三眼鱼等卡通形象的反核能宣传,认为这种做法不严肃,并指出工党对电动车等问题缺乏同样的关注。他认为,应该客观评估不同技术相关的风险,不能因为核能引发了人们的恐惧就忽视锂离子电池的实际危害。

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You see that Labor MPs have been told off for using those stupid cartoons and the jokes and the memes with three-eyed fish and the like. And they've been told off because it is a bad way to counter the nuclear argument, the Labor apparatchiks have concluded. Well, they're finally cottoned on that this is a stupid thing to do.

So Queensland Labor MP Graham Perrott has even gone on the record about this. Now, Graham Perrott has told the Australian newspaper it was important not to alienate people who wanted to have a discussion about nuclear. And he says this, quote, It's not something I joke about because I think you can't be serious about cost of living if you are joking about nuclear power. Power is a serious issue for people. Look, he's spot on, Graham Perrott there. It is a serious issue for people.

And this is Labor again, political and intellectual arrogance. Can't get out of their own way sometimes. And these stupid memes and jokes about the safety of nuclear power, they are just not based in fact, nor are they based in reality. So here are some facts. I've done a whole bunch of digging on this and I did lots and lots of research on it. So since 1945, only about 500 people have lost their lives in nuclear accidents all around the world.

So that's it. In almost 80 years, 500 people globally have lost their lives in nuclear accidents. Now, many of which are from radiotherapy or medical nuclear experiments rather than accidents at power stations themselves. And almost every single one of them occurred before the turn of the century. Now, that's a number that might surprise you, only 500, considering the fears that the community often associates with nuclear energy.

Now contrast that against a much more recent statistic. So in just the past two years, nearly 300 people have perished in fires. Just in the last two years, 300 people have perished in fires sparked by lithium ion batteries. You know, the things they put in electric bikes and scooters.

So let's just break that down. Nuclear accidents, well, of course, devastating when they occur. They've been relatively rare and thankfully infrequent in their fatalities. Now, these incidents, they get massive media attention. They provoke widespread concern about safety and environmental impact. Sure. Yet the actual human toll remains surprisingly low given the magnitude of these supposed events. So,

You've got lithium-ion batteries on the other side, electric bikes and scooters, which have been enabled and championed, mind you, as an answer to climate change. There is no question they are on balance more dangerous to human life than nuclear energy. The last major nuclear power accident was when the Fukushima nuclear power plant was the subject of that tsunami and earthquake back in 2011.

And that was rated as the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. You know how many people died in that? Directly from the nuclear accident at Fukushima. How many do you think? One. And it was from cancer seven years later. In comparison, just two weeks ago, in a lithium-ion battery factory in South Korea, 22 workers died because of a massive fire. 22. How many in Fukushima? One. Seven years after the incident.

Now, will Labor MPs create cartoons with e-scooters or e-bikes catching on fire and spreading this scare campaign around theirs? Of course not, because that's an issue that's got a sanction to be okay by the left of politics. So we're not going to make jokes about e-scooters or e-bikes because they're good for the environment. Well, they're not good for human life.

So how about we have a bit of perspective in evaluating risks associated with different technology? So while nuclear energy evokes deep-seated fears of these catastrophic accidents, the actual number of lives lost has been remarkably low over the decades. While in contrast, the rapid adoption of lithium-ion battery-powered devices...

There's been unforeseen risks that have cost hundreds of lives in just a short few years. Yet why is nuclear, nuclear power being demonised by the Federal Labor Government and e-bikes are not? You tell me. 131873.