I'm scared of the idiot humans who run the plants https://twitter.com/morganisawizard/status/1303113099160027136

I shouldn't, but I laugh like an IDIOT over the Crystal River plant disaster. because it wasn't a dangerous disaster. they just messed up the plant so badly that they had to close it and sell off all the parts because they would never be able to afford fixing it

it went like this: routine inspection found something kind of broken. they responsibly and sensibly stopped the plant before it became a problem, and then went about trying to find someone who could fix it. similar problems had been corrected previously at other plants.

it would have cost I think 74 million or something like that. but one bro was like "HEY. ACTUALLY I KNOW WHAT TO DO AND IT WILL ONLY COST LIKE 4 MILLION. I KNOW SOME GUYS WHO DID IT." and the plant was like, well, that sounds like a deal! let's do it!

so dude hired a bunch of other dudes and they decided instead of doing every bar (it was some kind of structural thing?) they'd do every OTHER bar thingie but that was obviously a very stupid idea and they kept screwing it up. turns out the guys he knew that worked on it before?

well, it turns out those were just contractors who had worked on similar projects. they weren't the brains behind it, they were just the dudes who did what they were told. the actual companies that did the previous repairs were like "what the hell? why are you so stupid?"

so things were Very Not Good (again, not unsafe though) and the people in charge were finally like PLEASE HELP US, ACTUAL REPAIR COMPANIES, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

and the actual companies were like

well you screwed it up so badly it would cost us 100s of millions now

and the owners of the company (who own a lot of power companies) were like, well, shit. at this point we have to cut our losses and run because otherwise we'll have to tax the shit out of everyone and increase bills and no one wants that, right

and the government was like WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MORONS

so Company was like, welp. our bad?

the plant was decommissioned, the nuclear material stored safely, and what's left of the plant is now guarded by security

the whole place now exists as a nuclear graveyard. that's its only function. it just holds a bunch of radioactive shit no one can use until people figure out something better
THAT'S LITERALLY THE OFFICIAL PLAN I'M NOT EXAGGERATING, IT'S JUST THERE CHILLIN. OR HEATIN, IDK

guys, they sold off EVERYTHING. they auctioned NUTS AND BOLTS. it was SO BAD YOU GUYS.

it was the costliest nuclear plant-related mistake that didn't involve an actual meltdown/people dying in HISTORY. they had to promise they wouldn't raise people's bills and shit.

BECAUSE THEY WERE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE. NOW PEOPLE LOST JOBS AND SHIT!!!!!!!! AND NOW EVERYONE HAS TO RELY ON THE OTHER PART OF THE PLANT THAT DOES OTHER POWER STUFF. GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!

THEY MESSED UP SO BADLY YOU GUYS. SOMEHOW IT DID NOT OCCUR TO ANYONE TO LOOK INTO THIS ONE IDIOT'S CLAIMS AND SEE IF HE HAD ANY IDEA WHAT HE WAS DOING

IT DIDN'T SEEM ODD THAT HE COULD OFFER A PRICE REDUCTION OF TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. DIDN'T SEEM TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

and that is - among other, less hilariously stupid reasons - why I do not trust humans to run nuclear power plants. the end. xx