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Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

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Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#311

Post by otherme123 »

jayd16 wrote: post #250
JoeyBananas wrote: post #122

It has nothing to do with economics, nuclear energy is stagnant because the industry is a regulatory hell. From eia.gov: Of the 104 operating nuclear power reactors in the United States: The last construction permit for a nuclear power plant was issued in 1978 for Progress Energy Inc.'s Shearon Harris plant, near Raleigh, North Carolina. The last operating license for a nuclear power plant was issued in 1996 to the T…

If it's just about regulation why hasn't China (or anyone) broken the stagnation? It's unwarranted regulations in every country?

Or France, the most nuclear friendly country in the world since forever. Yet, they are slowing nuclear power to favour eolic and solar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_France).

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#312

Post by ohgodplsno »

arinlen wrote: post #300
seydor wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is the yield of solarwind in germany though? looking at their energy stats , it is underutilized https://energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c=DE&... https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/installed_power/chart.... https://sminpowergroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Renewa... and what happens to that massive coal+gas infrastructure?Apparently , wind+solar don't work at night and you will always need…

> Apparently , wind+solar don't work at night (...) This line of argument is either disingenuous or ignorant. https://m.dw.com/en/new-energy-storage-facilities-in-high-de... https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-storage

A whole 5GW in the entire world? Crazy, it almost matches the 400GW of just nuclear output, and the many more of every other power source.

Wind + solar isn't a reliable energy source, period. You need a base load, whether that comes from hydroelectric, nuclear or, unfortunately, fossil fuels. Wind and solar are great at topping off things and should be deployed as much as possible for individuals to reduce the demand on the overall network, but they will never be a credible energy source, no matter how much people say "but batteries are just around the corner!". They are no, they are a waste of valuable metals and they are horribly polluting to produce.

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#313

Post by himinlomax »

arinlen wrote: post #300
seydor wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is the yield of solarwind in germany though? looking at their energy stats , it is underutilized https://energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c=DE&... https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/installed_power/chart.... https://sminpowergroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Renewa... and what happens to that massive coal+gas infrastructure?Apparently , wind+solar don't work at night and you will always need…

> Apparently , wind+solar don't work at night (...) This line of argument is either disingenuous or ignorant. https://m.dw.com/en/new-energy-storage-facilities-in-high-de... https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-storage

Ignorant?

Energy storage is not a short or medium term solution. Pumped hydro is already maxxed out pretty much everywhere it's possible as not all dams are suitable -- in fact most aren't. Battery storage for large grids currently covers minutes of use, a few hours may be attainable. But wind can be absent for days or weeks, and there's such a thing as winter when you're as far from the equator as Germany.

Ignorant. Right.

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#314

Post by himinlomax »

WalterGR wrote: post #287
seydor wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is the yield of solarwind in germany though? looking at their energy stats , it is underutilized https://energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c=DE&... https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/installed_power/chart.... https://sminpowergroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Renewa... and what happens to that massive coal+gas infrastructure?Apparently , wind+solar don't work at night and you will always need…

Batteries work at night.

Cool, now price them over a whole grid for the case where there's no wind for a few days, and that rare event called "winter" occurs in Germany.

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#315

Post by ohgodplsno »

WalterGR wrote: post #287
seydor wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is the yield of solarwind in germany though? looking at their energy stats , it is underutilized https://energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c=DE&... https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/installed_power/chart.... https://sminpowergroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Renewa... and what happens to that massive coal+gas infrastructure?Apparently , wind+solar don't work at night and you will always need…

Batteries work at night.

"We don't want spent radioactive fuel" says man who advocates for horribly polluting, resource wasting, giant toxic fire risks

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#316

Post by Dma54rhs »

sharikous wrote: post #260
mdp2021 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no longer countries Well, no. The entities united in the European Union are still Countries - Sovereign States, "governments over permanent populations in defined territories enabled to relate with peers, entering as part of the international community after recognition from at least one peer". They have embassies and deal with embassies. The distinction you are trying to convey, allegedly changing the scenario in…

EU law arguably has a greater weight than individual constitutions now. There are some countries like Poland which claim to not accept that, but the principle of EU law supremacy has become generally accepted (even without a referendum in that sense...)

France doesn't accept EU law supremacy either despite being a founding member.

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#317

Post by ohgodplsno »

brazzy wrote: post #286
emteycz wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany doesn't have blackouts only thanks to Czech and French nuclear energy ;-)

The other way round, actually. France recently had massive problems because they had to switch off multiple nuclear plants for unexpected maintenance issues, and bought lots of power from Germany

1 event does not make a rule. French nuclear reactors were turned off for maintenance, yes, but over the past 30 years, it is clearly Germany depending on French power

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#318

Post by rich_sasha »

runarberg wrote: post #194
maccam94 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the root cause here is that people are afraid to live near nuclear plants, and would get mad at their political representatives if they got built in their area. Making these limits more stringent makes it look like the politicians are forcing the plants to be safer, when really they are just blocking the plants from being built in their districts at all.

I’m not an expert but I feel like there is an actual merit behind these regulations. I mean I just did a quick google for "Hanford Cancer Rate" and immediately see stuff like: > study shows that Hanford workers were 11 times more likely to develop mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs strongly tied to asbestos exposure, than in the general population. I know that Hanford was an exceptionally bad Nuclear Plant, but it i…

Just going off your quote, I’d say asbestos exposure has little to do with radiation exposure? I’d imagine where there is radiation, there may also be asbestos, but that’s about it.

How many people working in that facility, too? Without ignoring safe working environments, his is a somewhat rare cancer and making precise statements about incidence may be tricky.

Finally, regardless of any of this, I’d probably rather work at a nuclear plant than a coal mine or oil platform.

Re: Why is the nuclear power industry stagnant?

#320

Post by shakow »

arinlen wrote: post #291
uranium wrote: post #66

"Recently, places as diverse as Texas, California, Oklahoma/Iowa/Kansas/Nebraska (SPP), the UK, and Germany have rapidly decarbonized without nuclear." Uh...Germany's actually recarbonized by shutting down their nuclear [increasing coal and imported electricity to pick up the slack]. "The nuclear electricity production lost in Germany's phase-out was primarily replaced with coal electricity production and electricity…

> Uh...Germany's actually recarbonized by shutting down their nuclear [increasing coal and imported electricity to pick up the slack]. Wikipedia contradicts your claim. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany From wikipeda's article, Germany has been constantly shutting down it's carbon-based energy sources for the past half decade, with dropping to a fraction of its contribution in the past six o…

I don't know what Wiki says, but this here[0] says that right now, Germany is both producing one of the dirtiest electricity in Europe, all while still importing over 1GW.

[0] https://app.electricitymap.org/map

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