Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, I think hydro is about as close to at-scale 24/7 always-on generation as you can get with renewables right now. Even with that, everywhere I’ve lived with hydro power had backup fossil fuel generation, which was periodically used, though rarely. Arguments for all other forms of renewables at scale right now seem to depend on having/maintaining fossil fuel power generation just to satisfy daily demand reliably,…
> Right, I think hydro is about as close to at-scale 24/7 always-on generation as you can get with renewables right now. There are quite some solar-thermal installations of >100MW, which store solar energy in a thermal buffer to later convert this to electrical power, creating an effective 24/7 stable supply of power, weather permitting.
An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
31–40 of 247 posts
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#32For anyone interested in more depth, the full report linked in the article is worth looking at. In general, it's not been a good year for the industry. Uneconomical plants in operation, stalled and cancelled projects, criminal fraud and theft of public money, and the unsolved problem of how to decommission anything plague the business. If the real costs were addressed, it seems many more plants would have shut down by now. The report does a great job of linking to original sources and it would be hard to find fault with the facts in it. TLDR, nuclear is in decline worldwide and maybe completely over in the US as far as new construction. The proposed new modular reactor designs have safety issues that keep them from being a quick fix.
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#33For anyone interested in more depth, the full report linked in the article is worth looking at. In general, it's not been a good year for the industry. Uneconomical plants in operation, stalled and cancelled projects, criminal fraud and theft of public money, and the unsolved problem of how to decommission anything plague the business. If the real costs were addressed, it seems many more plants would have shut down b…
> The proposed new modular reactor designs have safety issues that keep them from being a quick fix.
That's interesting, I didn't know that. Where can I read more about this?
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#34For anyone interested in more depth, the full report linked in the article is worth looking at. In general, it's not been a good year for the industry. Uneconomical plants in operation, stalled and cancelled projects, criminal fraud and theft of public money, and the unsolved problem of how to decommission anything plague the business. If the real costs were addressed, it seems many more plants would have shut down b…
I guess I don't understand how nuclear power can run a submarine but can't be harnessed to provide power on land. Nuclear power seems to work pretty well in ships. It seems as if we're not framing the problem correctly.
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#35>However, many of the measures needed for energy efficiency are now cheaper than the basic operating costs of nuclear power plants. Yes, blackouts are cheaper than electricity. >The second point is that renewables today have become so cheap that in many cases they are below the basic operating costs of nuclear power plants. Prohibiting new plants by law has a way of doing that, with aging mechanisms that fail catastr…
Nuclear friendly countries are struggling with the costs.
Multiple examples of problems were given for France, yet the French government likes nuclear power.
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Truly viable When you ignore the glaring problems with renewables? Sure... but why pay attention to rare earth minerals needed, massive problems creating massive amounts of PV panels, recycling issues, etc We can't afford to let the burgeoning "savior" of our world continue on it's destructive path because the Religion of Renewables won't admit to the fact that it's Priests are doing bad things with children... To…
You know, you have some valid points. Unfortunately, due to your demeaning and dismissive tone, I don't feel there's any point in engaging with you further.
You know, you have a point. Unfortunately, due to your demeaning and dismissive tone, I don't feel there's any point in engaging with you further.
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#37For anyone interested in more depth, the full report linked in the article is worth looking at. In general, it's not been a good year for the industry. Uneconomical plants in operation, stalled and cancelled projects, criminal fraud and theft of public money, and the unsolved problem of how to decommission anything plague the business. If the real costs were addressed, it seems many more plants would have shut down b…
> The proposed new modular reactor designs have safety issues that keep them from being a quick fix. That's interesting, I didn't know that. Where can I read more about this?
Here's the report PDF link:
https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/-World-Nuclear-Industry-S...
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#38>However, many of the measures needed for energy efficiency are now cheaper than the basic operating costs of nuclear power plants. Yes, blackouts are cheaper than electricity. >The second point is that renewables today have become so cheap that in many cases they are below the basic operating costs of nuclear power plants. Prohibiting new plants by law has a way of doing that, with aging mechanisms that fail catastr…
Nuclear friendly countries are struggling with the costs. Multiple examples of problems were given for France, yet the French government likes nuclear power.
Electricity in France is so cheap that EDF has had to raise domestic electricity prices in order to make it possible for other providers to compete
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, I think hydro is about as close to at-scale 24/7 always-on generation as you can get with renewables right now. Even with that, everywhere I’ve lived with hydro power had backup fossil fuel generation, which was periodically used, though rarely. Arguments for all other forms of renewables at scale right now seem to depend on having/maintaining fossil fuel power generation just to satisfy daily demand reliably,…
> Right, I think hydro is about as close to at-scale 24/7 always-on generation as you can get with renewables right now. There are quite some solar-thermal installations of >100MW, which store solar energy in a thermal buffer to later convert this to electrical power, creating an effective 24/7 stable supply of power, weather permitting.
Couple of years ago I tried comparing the cost of a solar thermal plant with PV solar. Claimed advantage of solar thermal is the ability to store energy as molten salt. The cost differential though means it'd be cheaper to use PV Solar to heat phase change materials.
Re: An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
#40One thing I never really see brought into the nuclear energy equation that's fairly environmentally bad is uranium mining.
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/longstaff1/
>Uranium mining facilities produce tailings that generally are disposed of in near surface impoundments close to the mine. These tailings pose serious environmental and health risks in the form of Randon emission, windblown dust dispersal and leaching of contaminants including heavy metals and arsenic into the water.
https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactive-waste-uranium-mining...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201052/
Nuclear energy still requires fuel. The impacts and costs from mining operations and refining should be taken into account when comparing to other energy sources. They are part of it. Nuclear energy can't exist without it.