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This nuclear renaissance sounds interesting. I can't find record of it. Could you point me to some sources? To be clear: to me it looks like a "nuclear renai

This nuclear renaissance sounds interesting. I can't find record of it. Could you point me to some sources? To be clear: to me it looks like a "nuclear renaissance" is a hypothetical concept. Like a goal that was never attempted due to public image. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_renaissance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_renaissance

epistasis 6y ago
I don't know of any authoritative histories yet, I'm just an outsider to the energy industry that follows closely. The US media is in shambles, and few people care about the grid, so it doesn't get much reporting here. And for the lobbying efforts that it took to convince the utilities to back nuclear were kind of shady: the utilities had to be promised that they would get paid by rate payers for the construction projects even as construction costs ballooned and even if the construction projects failed. This is not the type of screwing of customers that one wants done very publicly. But no US utility is going to take on the immense risk for tiny reward of paying for a nuclear plant without such a ridiculous guarantee. At least not until there are several successes and utilities can start to trust the industry again after all the financial disasters from construction mismanagement in the 1970s. In South Carolina the law was called the Base Load Review Act [1]. Something similar was passed in Georgia but I'm having trouble finding it now. Here's Lindsay Graham using the term "nuclear renaissance" [2]. Here's a 2017 article talking about how the VC Summer plant in Georgia was to be part of it [3]. In the UK this took the form of an explicit name of "nuclear renaissance" in government communication [4]. I see it commonly used to describe the efforts of many to rebuild nuclear starting in the 2000s, but I don't think that Wikipedia page does much good about actually describing the very real lobbying efforts that went on in the US and UK to make it happen, despite (in retrospect well-founded) qualms by many involved in the energy industry. [1] "... constitutionality of the 2007 state law that allowed SCE&G to recoup construction costs from ratepayers while construction took place." https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article174561111.html https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article174561111.h... [2] https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/sen-lindsey-graham-wants-nuclear-renaissance-thinks-republican-memo-has-no-mueller-consequence/article_d4409f85-83b3-5add-8180-de7c38e64ffb.html https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/sen-lindse... [3] https://www.axios.com/santee-cooper-sce-g-pause-work-on-14b-nuclear-power-project-2467622010.html https://www.axios.com/santee-cooper-sce-g-pause-work-on-14b-... [4] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/leading-the-way-the-uks-new-nuclear-renaissance https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/leading-the-way-the-u...

epistasis 6y ago

I don't know of any authoritative histories yet, I'm just an outsider to the energy industry that follows closely. The US media is in shambles, and few people care about the grid, so it doesn't get much reporting here. And for the lobbying efforts that it took to convince the utilities to back nuclear were kind of shady: the utilities had to be promised that they would get paid by rate payers for the construction projects even as construction costs ballooned and even if the construction projects failed. This is not the type of screwing of customers that one wants done very publicly. But no US utility is going to take on the immense risk for tiny reward of paying for a nuclear plant without such a ridiculous guarantee. At least not until there are several successes and utilities can start to trust the industry again after all the financial disasters from construction mismanagement in the 1970s. In South Carolina the law was called the Base Load Review Act [1]. Something similar was passed in Georgia but I'm having trouble finding it now. Here's Lindsay Graham using the term "nuclear renaissance" [2]. Here's a 2017 article talking about how the VC Summer plant in Georgia was to be part of it [3]. In the UK this took the form of an explicit name of "nuclear renaissance" in government communication [4]. I see it commonly used to describe the efforts of many to rebuild nuclear starting in the 2000s, but I don't think that Wikipedia page does much good about actually describing the very real lobbying efforts that went on in the US and UK to make it happen, despite (in retrospect well-founded) qualms by many involved in the energy industry. [1] "... constitutionality of the 2007 state law that allowed SCE&G to recoup construction costs from ratepayers while construction took place." https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article174561111.html https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article174561111.h... [2] https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/sen-lindsey-graham-wants-nuclear-renaissance-thinks-republican-memo-has-no-mueller-consequence/article_d4409f85-83b3-5add-8180-de7c38e64ffb.html https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/sen-lindse... [3] https://www.axios.com/santee-cooper-sce-g-pause-work-on-14b-nuclear-power-project-2467622010.html https://www.axios.com/santee-cooper-sce-g-pause-work-on-14b-... [4] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/leading-the-way-the-uks-new-nuclear-renaissance https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/leading-the-way-the-u...