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Nuclear only lost because the government picks winners and losers. Wind and solar are getting subsidies. France manages to produce its electricity at 1/10th the

Nuclear only lost because the government picks winners and losers. Wind and solar are getting subsidies. France manages to produce its electricity at 1/10th the cost as Germany, while also emitting less C02 because of its investment in nuclear power. American nuclear plants tended to be one-off projects of unique designs. This is drastically less cost efficient than what the French did, design a handful of standardized designs and do serial production.

toomuchtodo 7y ago
France heavily subsidizes their nuclear fleet operator (EDF), and continues to own 85% of the company. No one wants to wait decades for ROI on funding a nuclear power plant, and no one (besides governments) will insure them from black swan events. Everyone gets subsidies, provide them wisely. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lectricit%C3%A9_de_France#Status_of_EDF https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lectricit%C3%A9_de_Fra...
- manfredo 7y ago
  And we're heavily subsidizing wind and solar - it's just as much of a black swan event. The market will always pick the most cost effective power generation: fossil fuels. And for what it's worth, ~70 billion Euros of debt in order to bring a country like France up to ~70-80% nuclear electricity generation is dirt cheap compared to this $16 trillion dollar plan. If the government is going to pick our power source, then there's little justification not to choose the source that is more cost effective and does not require complex energy storage. The main reason I see why democrats stay away from nuclear power is twofold. One, nuclear plant operators are typically traditional power companies and thus Republican donors. Democrats don't want to give contracts to the people that fund their political opponents. Second, the cost efficiency of nuclear power in the long term mens that it won't result in as many jobs. The reality the emphasis on the phrase "Green New Deal" is on the latter two words. These plans are promising 10-20 million jobs. These are federal jobs programs with the word "green" prepended to them.
- StreamBright 7y ago
  Just wait for the first blackout caused by careless implementation of renewables.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Ehh, so install some battery storage. It’s not like we’re going to reverse course because of mistakes made along the way.

toomuchtodo 7y ago

France heavily subsidizes their nuclear fleet operator (EDF), and continues to own 85% of the company. No one wants to wait decades for ROI on funding a nuclear power plant, and no one (besides governments) will insure them from black swan events. Everyone gets subsidies, provide them wisely. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lectricit%C3%A9_de_France#Status_of_EDF https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lectricit%C3%A9_de_Fra...

manfredo 7y ago
And we're heavily subsidizing wind and solar - it's just as much of a black swan event. The market will always pick the most cost effective power generation: fossil fuels. And for what it's worth, ~70 billion Euros of debt in order to bring a country like France up to ~70-80% nuclear electricity generation is dirt cheap compared to this $16 trillion dollar plan. If the government is going to pick our power source, then there's little justification not to choose the source that is more cost effective and does not require complex energy storage. The main reason I see why democrats stay away from nuclear power is twofold. One, nuclear plant operators are typically traditional power companies and thus Republican donors. Democrats don't want to give contracts to the people that fund their political opponents. Second, the cost efficiency of nuclear power in the long term mens that it won't result in as many jobs. The reality the emphasis on the phrase "Green New Deal" is on the latter two words. These plans are promising 10-20 million jobs. These are federal jobs programs with the word "green" prepended to them.
StreamBright 7y ago
Just wait for the first blackout caused by careless implementation of renewables.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Ehh, so install some battery storage. It’s not like we’re going to reverse course because of mistakes made along the way.