4 ms·

It’s hard to argue this while several reactors are under construction around the world... just mostly not in the USA and mostly not in Western Europe.

j_wtf_all_taken 5y ago
But compared to how much wind and solar are build - "pretty much dead" does describe it fairly well I'd argue. Windmills and solar panels are not just cheaper, they're also easier to build while nuclear power plant construction (at least in Europe) seemed to take forever and got more and more expensive in the process.
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  My sense is that nuclear power plants basically can't go forward without lots of government support. No private utility company really wants to shoulder the financial risk for themselves. Between the stratospheric cost to build one, the ~decade it takes to get one online, and the possibility that cheap renewables push prices way down in the coming years, it's just too risky. That probably has at least something to do with why we aren't seeing much new construction in countries with freer economies. I would guess that another significant factor is, for regions like North America and western Europe that already have a substantial investment in nuclear, it perhaps makes more sense to do what they're already doing: upgrading their existing plants rather than building new ones.
- js8 5y ago
  There is also geopolitical aspect to it, where do you get the nuclear fuel from? In Czech Republic, we have two nuclear power plants, and AFAIK we are buying from Russia, but we are not overly happy about the dependency (although our dependency on russian natural gas is greater). Although wind & solar is not that popular here either. I don't know what we will do.
  - hansel_der 5y ago
    >I don't know what we will do. i know some czechs making a daily commute over the border in order to work installing solar panels (in germany). so there's that
    - j_wtf_all_taken 5y ago
      Except when Söder closes the border (again) g Oh wait, he doesn't do the immigrant thing any more, and for a while he and his politics were actually making sense. Seems like that's over now, but had some (two? three?) good years. In the end it doesn't matter where the panels are installed, as electricity is distributed throughout Europe, I guess?

j_wtf_all_taken 5y ago

But compared to how much wind and solar are build - "pretty much dead" does describe it fairly well I'd argue. Windmills and solar panels are not just cheaper, they're also easier to build while nuclear power plant construction (at least in Europe) seemed to take forever and got more and more expensive in the process.

mumblemumble 5y ago
My sense is that nuclear power plants basically can't go forward without lots of government support. No private utility company really wants to shoulder the financial risk for themselves. Between the stratospheric cost to build one, the ~decade it takes to get one online, and the possibility that cheap renewables push prices way down in the coming years, it's just too risky. That probably has at least something to do with why we aren't seeing much new construction in countries with freer economies. I would guess that another significant factor is, for regions like North America and western Europe that already have a substantial investment in nuclear, it perhaps makes more sense to do what they're already doing: upgrading their existing plants rather than building new ones.
js8 5y ago
There is also geopolitical aspect to it, where do you get the nuclear fuel from? In Czech Republic, we have two nuclear power plants, and AFAIK we are buying from Russia, but we are not overly happy about the dependency (although our dependency on russian natural gas is greater). Although wind & solar is not that popular here either. I don't know what we will do.
- hansel_der 5y ago
  >I don't know what we will do. i know some czechs making a daily commute over the border in order to work installing solar panels (in germany). so there's that
  - j_wtf_all_taken 5y ago
    Except when Söder closes the border (again) g Oh wait, he doesn't do the immigrant thing any more, and for a while he and his politics were actually making sense. Seems like that's over now, but had some (two? three?) good years. In the end it doesn't matter where the panels are installed, as electricity is distributed throughout Europe, I guess?