Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
1–10 of 88 posts
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#2Why is this article from 3 years ago on the front page?
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#3This article is more than three years old, but the story hasn't changed much. VC Summer was abandoned, leaving utility customers with massive bills. Vogtle soldiers on, but seems to be unlikely to finish.
Nucleae's problems are not the politics, the problem is that basic competency in design and construction logistics have been lost. Plans get delivered to construction that are "unconstructable," but construction soldiers on and wings it. Then it al has to go through design review again. And maybe redone. Delays delays delays. Incompetence abounds.
All the partners are planning from the beginning for a massive lawsuit at the end, and work harder to limit their liability (or create liability for others?) than to make the project work.
Executives lie about the progress, there are guilty pleas to fraud:
https://www.postandcourier.com/business/former-scana-executi...
20 years ago, I though nuclear was essential to fighting climate change. Today, I don't see how nuclear can ever help. We can't build it before it's too late, and by the time we build anything other technology has completely leapfrogged it.
We started these two AP-1000 reactors in 2008! A dozen years later we have nothing to show for it except for bankruptcy, plea deals, billions of dollars that would have been more effectively spent on solar and storage.
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#4Somewhat tangential, but wikipedia has good article on the cost of different energy sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source
The cost of nuclear energy has been flat for decades, but the cost of sources like solar has been plummeting. Nuclear doesn't have much of change without some technological break through.
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#5This article is more than three years old, but the story hasn't changed much. VC Summer was abandoned, leaving utility customers with massive bills. Vogtle soldiers on, but seems to be unlikely to finish. Nucleae's problems are not the politics, the problem is that basic competency in design and construction logistics have been lost. Plans get delivered to construction that are "unconstructable," but construction sol…
Yup. For all the people boosting nuclear power, the reality on the ground seems to be that it just does not work anymore. It's way too expensive and never gets done, and this problem is global, not just in the US; see e.g. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a33499619/fr...
At some point the results have to speak for themselves, and solar/wind plus battery storage is actually working and being built. That seems a more realistic path forward than nuclear power, which is demonstrably failing over and over.
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#6This article is more than three years old, but the story hasn't changed much. VC Summer was abandoned, leaving utility customers with massive bills. Vogtle soldiers on, but seems to be unlikely to finish. Nucleae's problems are not the politics, the problem is that basic competency in design and construction logistics have been lost. Plans get delivered to construction that are "unconstructable," but construction sol…
I'm pro renewables but Asimov made an impact on how nuclear is the power of the future and it would be nice to have it in our portfolio.
The only likelihood of nuclear power succeeding would be to containerize the reactors to ensure build quality, keep costs down, and to address scaling.
A quick search hit this company that appears to be promoting this very thing: http://www.holosgen.com/
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#7This article is more than three years old, but the story hasn't changed much. VC Summer was abandoned, leaving utility customers with massive bills. Vogtle soldiers on, but seems to be unlikely to finish. Nucleae's problems are not the politics, the problem is that basic competency in design and construction logistics have been lost. Plans get delivered to construction that are "unconstructable," but construction sol…
I'm pro renewables but Asimov made an impact on how nuclear is the power of the future and it would be nice to have it in our portfolio. The only likelihood of nuclear power succeeding would be to containerize the reactors to ensure build quality, keep costs down, and to address scaling. A quick search hit this company that appears to be promoting this very thing: http://www.holosgen.com/
Nuclear is the future of power on Mars (containerized and launched on reliable person rated launch vehicles). It's clear we're not going to build it successfully on Earth, and that's okay. Renewables and batteries are faster and cheaper to build on Earth.
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#8Somewhat tangential, but wikipedia has good article on the cost of different energy sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source The cost of nuclear energy has been flat for decades, but the cost of sources like solar has been plummeting. Nuclear doesn't have much of change without some technological break through.
Isn't that basically the whole point of the recent ITER news? Swapping from fission to fusion and getting a 10x gain power in to out? I know it's been slow going and still will be, but it's still progress
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#9Somewhat tangential, but wikipedia has good article on the cost of different energy sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source The cost of nuclear energy has been flat for decades, but the cost of sources like solar has been plummeting. Nuclear doesn't have much of change without some technological break through.
Nuclear and renewables are not 1:1 match or comparison.
Nuclear provides steady source of electricity 24/7.
If you want same from renewable, you must add the cost of energy storage and the cost of overcapacity.
Re: Westinghouse Files for Bankruptcy, in Blow to Nuclear Power (2017)
#10This article is more than three years old, but the story hasn't changed much. VC Summer was abandoned, leaving utility customers with massive bills. Vogtle soldiers on, but seems to be unlikely to finish. Nucleae's problems are not the politics, the problem is that basic competency in design and construction logistics have been lost. Plans get delivered to construction that are "unconstructable," but construction sol…
I'm pro renewables but Asimov made an impact on how nuclear is the power of the future and it would be nice to have it in our portfolio. The only likelihood of nuclear power succeeding would be to containerize the reactors to ensure build quality, keep costs down, and to address scaling. A quick search hit this company that appears to be promoting this very thing: http://www.holosgen.com/
I think you are right, that the power of science fiction has clouded people's judgement of what the future will really be like.
Today, I don't think we can consider nuclear a good or modern energy system when compared to something like solar or wind. Nuclear is used as a heat source to boil water and power a turbine, and throws away half of its thermal energy as waste. disposing of that waste heat is becoming so difficult that reactors in France power down in hot days. This is not some sort of super futuristic power source!!
While small modular reactors are the only near term hope for nuclear, I think that fission is not a good fit for terrestrial power. And fusion is no better until we have direct conversion or some other massive tech leap.