3 ms·

well four new reactors are being built in the South East, two in South Carolina and two in Georgia. They are scheduled to be online in 2018 and 2019 adding abou

well four new reactors are being built in the South East, two in South Carolina and two in Georgia. They are scheduled to be online in 2018 and 2019 adding about 1200mw per reactor. Far from dead they do however show that we aren't even trying to be at the forefront of the technology anymore. While the AP1000 reactors are more modern they are still old school in many senses. We still need a good solid base power source, renewable sources tend to be highly weather dependent and cover a large area to generate power. It is not reasonable to claim we can store it through batteries to replace the power currently provided by coal, gas, and nuclear. Unless some breakthrough storage means comes out its not going to happen

afterburner 11y ago
Batteries are improving all the time though. https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-battery-energy-density-improves-5-8-per-year https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-battery-energy-density... Not only that, batteries aren't the only way to store renewable energy. There's dams, thermal salts, and others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage#Renewable_energy_storage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage#Renewable_energ... Renewable energy is an area that is constantly at the forefront of technology, unlike nuclear. That is one of the reasons it is so much more promising.
fludlight 11y ago
The way the regulatory and economic winds are blowing, renewables have become the new baseline generating capacity, with fast-spinup combined cycle natural gas as marginal capacity. Renewables may be weather dependent, but it is hard to argue with a 20+ year lifespan, minimal maintenance, and, most importantly, zero marginal cost. Nuclear and coal are starting to fade, with vastly more retirements than new construction, outside of the deep south for nuclear (because let's do the opposite of the liberals) and coal producing states (because jobs).
mikeyouse 11y ago
> They are scheduled to be online in 2018 and 2019. Unfortunately as is universally the case with nuclear construction (see the debacle in the UK as well), both reactors recently announced significant delays of ~18 months and at least an additional billion in cost overruns. There may be an economical way to build nuclear but we clearly don't have it. http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2015/05/delays-at-vogtle-v-c-summer-still-not-threatening-nuclear-ptc.html http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2015/05/delays-at-vogtle-v... http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/energy/2015/03/utility-says-latest-delays-to-georgia-nuclear.html http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/energy/2015/03/uti...

afterburner 11y ago

Batteries are improving all the time though. https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-battery-energy-density-improves-5-8-per-year https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-battery-energy-density... Not only that, batteries aren't the only way to store renewable energy. There's dams, thermal salts, and others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage#Renewable_energy_storage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_storage#Renewable_energ... Renewable energy is an area that is constantly at the forefront of technology, unlike nuclear. That is one of the reasons it is so much more promising.

fludlight 11y ago

The way the regulatory and economic winds are blowing, renewables have become the new baseline generating capacity, with fast-spinup combined cycle natural gas as marginal capacity. Renewables may be weather dependent, but it is hard to argue with a 20+ year lifespan, minimal maintenance, and, most importantly, zero marginal cost. Nuclear and coal are starting to fade, with vastly more retirements than new construction, outside of the deep south for nuclear (because let's do the opposite of the liberals) and coal producing states (because jobs).

mikeyouse 11y ago

> They are scheduled to be online in 2018 and 2019. Unfortunately as is universally the case with nuclear construction (see the debacle in the UK as well), both reactors recently announced significant delays of ~18 months and at least an additional billion in cost overruns. There may be an economical way to build nuclear but we clearly don't have it. http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2015/05/delays-at-vogtle-v-c-summer-still-not-threatening-nuclear-ptc.html http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2015/05/delays-at-vogtle-v... http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/energy/2015/03/utility-says-latest-delays-to-georgia-nuclear.html http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/energy/2015/03/uti...