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"a Pulitzer Prize-winning author argues that nuclear is safer than most energy sources" Since when are Pulitzer prize winners experts on nuclear energy? A sen
by amai 6y ago
"a Pulitzer Prize-winning author argues that nuclear is safer than most energy sources"
Since when are Pulitzer prize winners experts on nuclear energy?
A sentence like this is shows he has absolutely no clue what he is talking about:
"Nuclear waste disposal, although a continuing political problem in the U.S., is not any longer a technological problem."
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwY2E0hjGuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwY2E0hjGuU
"A final complaint against nuclear power is that it costs too much. Whether or not nuclear power costs too much will ultimately be a matter for markets to decide, but there is no question that a full accounting of the external costs of different energy systems would find nuclear cheaper than coal or natural gas. "
Ok, see here https://www.carbonbrief.org/wind-and-solar-are-30-50-cheaper-than-thought-admits-uk-government https://www.carbonbrief.org/wind-and-solar-are-30-50-cheaper...
Nuclear is already the most expensive solution to produce electricity.
Also we don't need artificial nuclear energy here on Earth. There is plenty of nuclear energy available for free from the sun.
- i_am_proteus 6y agoThe pricing analysis assumes that costs for renewables scale linearly as they approach 100% of grid capacity, but they do not. Other comments in this thread speak to this phenomenon well. Without viable energy storage, operating in parallel with something like load-following nuclear is necessary for wind and solar to remain as cheap as currently quoted. If viable scale energy storage is invented, it will not be free.
- bryanlarsen 6y agoBatteries for energy storage is already viable. Batteries are already cheaper than high voltage power lines. https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/the-future-of-electricity-is-local/ https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/the-future-of-...
- i_am_proteus 6y agoIn some markets. The author of this short essay makes many assumptions that trends will remain linear.
- bryanlarsen 6y agoIt doesn't matter. Both HVDC and batteries are cheaper than nuclear, by a lot. The cost of solar, *including storage* is $40/MWh in Arizona *today*. Running that $40/MWh power to NY over HVDC is cheaper than a nuclear power plant. And according to the author, generating and storing the power in New York via solar or wind would be even cheaper.
- i_am_proteus 6y agoThis essay's math literally relies on linear continuation of current price trends for over a decade with no justification of the linear assumption in order to reach this conclusion.