3 ms·

Yes, but what will we do if/when wind and solar just "doesn't work anymore". In the US trains "don't work anymore"... but they do in other countries. This gradu

by kurthr 6y ago

Yes, but what will we do if/when wind and solar just "doesn't work anymore". In the US trains "don't work anymore"... but they do in other countries. This gradual erosion of technical capability is a generic problem the US needs to solve. Nuclear is a case study of what is wrong and where the problems are (political, business, education).

CydeWeys 6y ago
It's a good point, but I think we can fix trains more easily than nuclear power plants, because as you point out at least the trains are a solved problem in many other countries that would simply just emulate. And passenger trains have serviceable enough fallbacks (planes, Megabus, etc.), like solar/wind are proving to be fallbacks for nuclear.
coredog64 6y ago
This is a mischaracterization of the state of US rail. The US has prioritized freight rail over passenger rail. That’s not a terrible choice given the long distances and the lower sensitivity to slower, more efficient speeds.
manicdee 6y ago
The way the US chose to address accidents in rail was to armour plate their rail cars. In Europe they worked on better processes to ensure trains don’t run into each other in the first place. The erosion of technical capability in rail is driven by the legislature. You have many states that will need to work together to completely abandon the US regulations on rail, adopt European regulations, and replace every piece of rolling stock to comply with the new regulations. That’s quite the undertaking, but achievable since the required expertise still exists outside the USA. The erosion of technical capability in nuclear power is likely unsolvable. There is no brains trust outside the USA from which to borrow the knowledge of metallurgy, concrete, site preparation, building design, or even design for manufacture. This is rebooting the entire industry from scratch to produce an unprofitable product.
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  Actually now the US has alternative compliance regulations that let operators use European stock without waivers: https://pedestrianobservations.com/2018/11/20/fra-reform-is-here/amp/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2018/11/20/fra-reform-is-... Now the problem is getting operators to actually buy such equipment, and then operators getting the slots and ability to run these at a usable frequency, speed, and reliability.

by kurthr 6y ago

CydeWeys 6y ago

It's a good point, but I think we can fix trains more easily than nuclear power plants, because as you point out at least the trains are a solved problem in many other countries that would simply just emulate. And passenger trains have serviceable enough fallbacks (planes, Megabus, etc.), like solar/wind are proving to be fallbacks for nuclear.

coredog64 6y ago

This is a mischaracterization of the state of US rail. The US has prioritized freight rail over passenger rail. That’s not a terrible choice given the long distances and the lower sensitivity to slower, more efficient speeds.

manicdee 6y ago

The way the US chose to address accidents in rail was to armour plate their rail cars. In Europe they worked on better processes to ensure trains don’t run into each other in the first place. The erosion of technical capability in rail is driven by the legislature. You have many states that will need to work together to completely abandon the US regulations on rail, adopt European regulations, and replace every piece of rolling stock to comply with the new regulations. That’s quite the undertaking, but achievable since the required expertise still exists outside the USA. The erosion of technical capability in nuclear power is likely unsolvable. There is no brains trust outside the USA from which to borrow the knowledge of metallurgy, concrete, site preparation, building design, or even design for manufacture. This is rebooting the entire industry from scratch to produce an unprofitable product.

bobthepanda 6y ago
Actually now the US has alternative compliance regulations that let operators use European stock without waivers: https://pedestrianobservations.com/2018/11/20/fra-reform-is-here/amp/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2018/11/20/fra-reform-is-... Now the problem is getting operators to actually buy such equipment, and then operators getting the slots and ability to run these at a usable frequency, speed, and reliability.