Soviet-era, Chernobyl-style RMYK nuclear reactors were only designed to be used for 30 years, but now Russia has decided to extend the life of 11 of them to 45 years. Great idea or GREATEST idea?
It gets better (worse): four of the reactors are within 50 miles of St. Petersburg, which is home to more people than the city of L.A.
Here's what's scary about Chernobyl-style reactors: they are inherently way more dangerous than the kind common throughout Europe, the U.S., and Japan. A meltdown, as the world witnessed at Fukushima, is scary and damaging enough, but these reactors have a greater potential for a nuclear explosion in the event of something going wrong.
