Nuclear FUD?
The abbreviation ‘FUD’ usually means ‘Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt‘ to us nerds. It’s what big companies use to stop their customers from switching to other, less spread, technology. It’s what made IT-managers way back buy IBM and IT-managers today buy Windows. Anything else is considered a risk (if nothing else, of being fired).
Yesterday I found this web page. If you don’t understand Swedish, it’s an page from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, announcing their ‘FUD-program 2007′, about nuclear power and the final storage of nuclear waste. Being the nerd that I am, I found it hilarious. Now, ofc the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority isn’t spreading Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt about nuclear safety. (Although maybe they should, considering the risks associated) No, FUD in this case means ‘Research, Development, Demonstration’ (In Swedish: Forskning, Utveckling, Demonstration).
Maybe this is an attempt from some nerdy swedish public emplyee to alert people on what’s really going on in the Swedish authority. No matter what, their bad choise of abbreviation deserves some attention, just for the fun of it.
Some interesting facts about Swedish nuclear power:
- We produce the most nuclear power in the world per capita
- We have some of the best prerequisites for renewable energy in the world
- We have better prerequisites for wind power than Germany has, but produces about 5% as much wind power as does Germany
- We use about 3 times as much electricity per capita as most European countries
- About half of our electricity comes from nuclear power
- Liberal (at least that’s what they call themselves) politicians in Swe demands that we build new nuclear power plants
- It takes about 20 seconds to switch a light bulb into a more energy efficient one
- It takes at least 20 years to build a new nuclear power plant
