I think what this thread is saying is that circuit breakers in the US are lower quality than in the UK.
That is not to say fuses are not used, service cutouts contain large pattern HRC BS1361 Ceramic Fuses, and there are many applications were BS88-2 or BS88-6 Fast Blow or Slow blow Ceramics are used.
There are instances where the use of circuit breakers may not be a viable option for operational issues.
However I still believe that MCB's, RCBO's and RCD's are far superior to fuses in general situations. In 21 years in this job I can honestly say I have only ever come across a about a dozen knackered MCB's, and all the UK ones fail safe anyway..that can be a pain, but it's a way of finding out there is a problem.
