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Is the cost overrun due to engineering - we haven’t built these (NuScale) yet so we don’t really know how hard it is - or due to politics? Regarding Nuclear po
by burlesona 6y ago
Is the cost overrun due to engineering - we haven’t built these (NuScale) yet so we don’t really know how hard it is - or due to politics?
Regarding Nuclear power in general, it’s amazing to me that we seem to have lost the engineering ability to actually build technology that’s about 70 years old at this point.
- quonn 6y agoBut all the safety measures are not 70 years old. Of course we could technically replicate an old plant.
- m0llusk 6y agoWe have the engineering. In a real sense that is the problem. For any particular complication we can come up with designs and systems that handle and control that. But each and every one such complication whether it is a coating or a backup cooling system or whatever adds up. Ideally nuclear power could be cheap, and it is conceivable that with enough design effort invested we could get there. Unfortunately even the modern simplified designs are not cost competitive with solar, wind, and hydro.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y agoNot to mention zoning laws, neighborhood petitions against it, and the myriad of laws and regulations that make it impossible to even want to attempt it.
- pfdietz 6y agoThe places it was attempted recently in the US (GA, SC) had great local and state support. That didn't stop the efforts from becoming expensive fiascos.
- kragen 6y agoI explained why in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26925722 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26925722. The cost increase was due to redesigning the project to be larger.