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> American nuclear industry just has such an awful record of cost overruns Due primarily to NIMBY lawsuits, IIRC. Nuclear is technically easyish, but misinform
by tbrownaw 16y ago
> American nuclear industry just has such an awful record of cost overruns
Due primarily to NIMBY lawsuits, IIRC. Nuclear is technically easyish, but misinformed protesters make it socially/legally messy.
- gamble 16y ago> Nuclear is technically easyish Not the way it's been done in the US. Every plant was essentially a one-off design, with all the risks you'd expect from a multi-billion dollar construction project with significant R&D aspects. The industry is trying to standardize on replicable reactor designs, but it's not a cakewalk. Even the French have had a lot of difficulty producing a standard reactor, and few countries have invested as much in nuclear as they have.
- pjscott 16y agoThis is why I'm optimistic about smaller reactors like the B&W mPower reactor, or China's HTR-PM pebble bed reactors. They're meant to be cranked out in bulk, identically, and shipped out to wherever the site is. The AP1000 also looks like a pretty impressive attempt at standardization, since it comes mostly in the form of factory-produced modules that get assembled on-site.