Swiss parliament lifts ban on new nuclear power plants

Post by gambiting » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 7:51 AM UTC

lenerdenator wrote: post #827

gambiting wrote: post #726

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, VW spent years developing the ID line which was just too expensive, buggy, and constanly positioned as an alternative to much cheaper and better equipped Golf/Polo lines - it's like they were afraid to canibalize their own products. I don't know a single person who owned an ID.3 and was actually happy with it. Or Mercedes, where they decided to build extremely expensive EVs that departed from their core des…

It might very well be a case of trying to maximize the return on the investment that they already made with the old vehicles. Building out a new production line for vehicles is insanely expensive. Billions upon billions of dollars. You need the old cars to sell well enough to pay for this and all of your other expenses. China got to get into the EV space with a mostly-clean slate. Their domestic manufacturers made ab…

Post by Moldoteck » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 8:51 AM UTC

jltsiren wrote: post #172

bilekas wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland has an amazing opportunity to be the standard setter in the EU with nuclear though. The technology is so unbelievably safe and efficient these days. It a real shame to leave it all on the table because of poorly designed and managed disasters.

Political will is not the actual bottleneck. Finland has given the initial permit for three nuclear reactors in the past 25 years. One was eventually built after massive delays and cost overruns. Another was canceled, because the company chosen to build it first proved to be incompetent and later also politically undesirable. As for the third reactor, the company that got the permit determined that it makes more sens…

Post by Moldoteck » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 8:54 AM UTC

tfourb wrote: post #259

UltraSane wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China and South Korea can build nuclear reactors cheaply.

China mostly builds nuclear reactors to retain the required industrial base to maintain a military nuclear program. Nuclear power is heavily subsidized in China, as it is everywhere in the world. It might be cheaper than in the US or Europe, but its not "cheap".

Post by Moldoteck » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 9:07 AM UTC

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #618

tfourb wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China mostly builds nuclear reactors to retain the required industrial base to maintain a military nuclear program. Nuclear power is heavily subsidized in China, as it is everywhere in the world. It might be cheaper than in the US or Europe, but its not "cheap".

They don't need to build reactors just to retain a military nuclear program. They specifically maintain a nuclear deterrent by policy, they don't need an excuse. They build reactors because they need more power. They have 60+ reactors and will have more nuclear the US by the end of the decade. They're also heavily investing in next-gen reactors which they wouldn't need to do if they just wanted a weapons program. Yes…

Post by Moldoteck » Sat, Jun 20, 2026, 9:10 AM UTC

TheCondor wrote: post #245

bilekas wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland has an amazing opportunity to be the standard setter in the EU with nuclear though. The technology is so unbelievably safe and efficient these days. It a real shame to leave it all on the table because of poorly designed and managed disasters.

Did waste management become a solved problem? In Colorado they shut down their last reactor (a very modern, at the time, thorium unit) in 1989 and there is still tons of waste product onsite since Yucca mountain was the designated target for it and it never came online. It's in a river basin and the containment facility is supposedly insanely robust (can withstand 300mph winds, etc..) but it's still there and I think…