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As many nuclear skeptics are keen to point out, the main counterargument to nuclear is construction costs. In the tens of billions. As Elon Musk has demonstrate
by credit_guy 7y ago
As many nuclear skeptics are keen to point out, the main counterargument to nuclear is construction costs. In the tens of billions. As Elon Musk has demonstrated though, there is nothing set in stone when it comes to manufacturing costs, the lower bound is only the cost of raw materials. If manufacturing costs go to zero, a new nuclear power plant could cost of the order of $10 MM rather than $20 BN. Elon has shown us that you can reduce manufacturing costs of rockets by a factor of 10 to 100 in a mater of one to two decades, if you put your mind to it.
Small nuclear reactors are the only chance of the nuclear industry to reduce manufacturing costs, but once they get rolling, there is no reason to believe they can't reduce their costs by a factor of 10 at least. For example, this article mentions a cost of $2.4BN per small reactor. A comparable US Navy small reactor (used for submarines) costs around $100 MM [1]. For some reason the US Navy doesn't appear inclined to share its know-how with the civilians, but that should give us an idea of what's possible.
[1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-build-the-reactor-in-a-nuclear-submarine-aircraft-carrier-or-ice-cutter https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-build-the-rea...
- baybal2 7y ago> Elon has shown us that you can reduce manufacturing costs of rockets by a factor of 10 to 100 in a mater of one to two decades, if you put your mind to it. Well, it's better to say that he reduced the price of the launch, not the cost.
- pugworthy 7y ago> Well, it's better to say that he reduced the price of the launch, not the cost. He improved the ROI by enabling reuse
- close04 7y agoThe problem is most regular people think "Chernobyl" or "Fukushima" when they hear "nuclear power". It's hard to create an environment that fosters and finances innovation in this field when the political support needed may be career suicide for whoever offers it.
- seganddr 7y agoBill Gates has plans for this type of project already but Trump spiked it.... https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/amp25728221/terrapower-china-bill-gates-trump/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/amp25728221/...
- ShorsHammer 7y agoVast majority of the cost is regulation. As Uber/Airbnb demonstrated all you need is a convenient way around that with enough of the voting public on your side until regulations sway in your favour. Am a big fan of small modular reactors, likely they will fit in a rocket bound for Mars one day. https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/small-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fu...
- nicoburns 7y agoMusk blew up a few rockets in the process though. We can't afford to do that with nuclear reactors.
- Scoundreller 7y agoWe’ll probably blow up some non-radioactive test units first. Even deliberately just to find their weakest points. Expect several weeks of “nuclear reactor test explosion” news when we do that due diligence.
- corrund 7y agoSo, Iran, NK, and many other countries will be able to produce nuclear energy on cheap? It's good news for them.
- jacobush 7y agoThe main counterargument is the uncertainty about what to do about the waste.