No impact to reactor meltdowns
Thomas Nicholas et al, 2020 – PhD student in computational plasma physics at the University of York “The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of 'Deep Adaptation'” OpenDemocracy, 7/14, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/faulty-science-doomism-and-flawed-conclusions-deep-adaptation/ //DH
Even if these plants did somehow collectively melt down, global nuclear meltdown would not come close to causing human extinction. There are 450 nuclear reactors currently operating. If each simultaneously released a Chernobyl-level amount of radioactive material, the average radiation dose per square mile over the earth would be far less than the dose per square mile which the whole of Ukraine suffered as a result of the actual Chernobyl accident. Clearly all human life was not wiped out in soviet-era Ukraine (the resulting mortality across the country was roughly 4000 people out of 51 million), so whilst this hypothetical scenario would be a profound tragedy, it would not come anywhere near causing human extinction. (In contrast to global nuclear war, which remains an existential threat. Warming will likely exacerbate the risk of nuclear war by inflaming geopolitical tensions – a strong argument against a passive, non-interventionist stance on climate mitigation. However, if the argument is really “climate change makes nuclear war more likely”, then that should be made clear, as disarmament would also be an effective preventative measure.)