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we aren't going to take climate change seriously unless we move to nuclear. A nuclear plant is still a steam engine, so it would require significant amounts of
by Tade0 6y ago
we aren't going to take climate change seriously unless we move to nuclear.
A nuclear plant is still a steam engine, so it would require significant amounts of water to cool, which aren't that easy to come by in a land where droughts happen so often.
Also there's so much sun there and solar panels are so cheap nowadays that waiting 7-odd years for a plant to start producing power doesn't look like a viable option.
China is leading the world in new nuclear power deployment, but still in terms of delivered GWh wind overtook nuclear there in 2012 and the gap is widening. Solar will cross that point in a few years.
If even a totalitarian state can't deploy nuclear at a pace competitive with alternatives, how is a place like California supposed to?
- babesh 6y agoMany nuclear power plants suck in water from the ocean. In fact, 3 of the 4 in California are on the coast. You can see one of them on the drive between LA and San Diego. EDIT: That one is being decommissioned https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&mid=1t0te1lvPsMd0yMcThlJnpjJ5lQE&ll=37.1035829790505%2C-120.7825435&z=5 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&mid=1t0te1lvPsMd0...
- babesh 6y agoActually, the only one that is still running is Diablo Canyon. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant
- barnesto 6y agoIn California we have droughts. We also have really poor water management. Lack of storage and dams. Then there's the delta smelt issue. They basically created a dustbowl in many locations because of their very poor resource management, which isn't contained to water. Hello rolling blackouts.