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The article says the problem flagged were already being fixed... Waste from nuclear is miniscular per unit of energy, just _40_ grams per person per year, all

The article says the problem flagged were already being fixed... Waste from nuclear is miniscular per unit of energy, just _40_ grams per person per year, all energy included [transportation, electricity, heating - all]. 40 grams. [1] It was quite eye-opening to know that 1GW nuclear plant, working for decades, can keep _all_ of it's waste on site. Given that no soul was ever harmed by industrial nuclear waste (it is mostly on site), existing baseload capabilities and _history_ of decarbonizing whole industrialized economies (France/Korea again), I feel it is harmful to completely discount this method of power generation, especially now.. [1] https://whatisnuclear.com/waste.html#howmuch https://whatisnuclear.com/waste.html#howmuch

nate_meurer 5y ago
And yet, the only remaining nuclear power plant under construction in the US is going to cost nearly 30 billion dollars, which unfortunately may ensure that this will be the last commercial nuclear power plant we ever build here Regardless of the theoretical advantages of nuclear power, in practice we haven't found a way to make it cost effective going forward.
- korantu 5y ago
  It is not theoretical advantage, France in practice decarbonised an industrial economy in 10 years, with no outages etc. Worth trying to replicate I think. South Korea can build nuclear plants in practice, on time and on budget. One of the reasons they can do it is that they dont build First Of A Kind plants (as is in the topic article), and focus on repearing same design with same people
  - nate_meurer 5y ago
    And yet, again, the U.S. doesn't appear to have the ability to do what you say. Vogtle is as close to a standardized design as the U.S. has ever tried to build. It was supposed to be a template for future drop-in Westinghouse AP1000 units. Thirty billion dollars for a single power plant. I don't pretend to know why we suck at nuclear, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that Vogtle is the final nail in the coffin of American nuclear power generation. I agree with you on the advantages of nuclear, but this is our reality in the U.S. BTW, we will never solve the nuclear waste disposal problem in the US. We can't even get the nimby's to let us build enough housing for all of us.
    - korantu 5y ago
      It is political issue, so it is a matter of deciding. Climate change will eventually force the decision, so I dont think nuclear coffins will be involved.
      - nate_meurer 5y ago
        I think you're right about the technical advantages and feasibility of properly-done nuclear. I hope you're right about the rest too.
breckenedge 5y ago
Your numbers seemed a bit off from my recollection. Per EDF: > annual per capita radioactive waste generated in France is now 1 kg (of which 11 grams high-level waste), compared with 2,500 kg of industrial waste (of which 100 kg of toxic waste). 100kg of toxic industrial waste + 1kg of radioactive waste. https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/producing-climate-friendly-energy/nuclear-energy/our-expertise/radioactive-waste https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/producing-climate-friend...
- korantu 5y ago
  The problem is high level radioactive waste that is going to be there for millenia, and is actually the problem. and it is 11 grams per year of that. Low level waste can be just stored until radioactive levels decrease enough, and dealt with as any other waste.

nate_meurer 5y ago

And yet, the only remaining nuclear power plant under construction in the US is going to cost nearly 30 billion dollars, which unfortunately may ensure that this will be the last commercial nuclear power plant we ever build here Regardless of the theoretical advantages of nuclear power, in practice we haven't found a way to make it cost effective going forward.

korantu 5y ago
It is not theoretical advantage, France in practice decarbonised an industrial economy in 10 years, with no outages etc. Worth trying to replicate I think. South Korea can build nuclear plants in practice, on time and on budget. One of the reasons they can do it is that they dont build First Of A Kind plants (as is in the topic article), and focus on repearing same design with same people
- nate_meurer 5y ago
  And yet, again, the U.S. doesn't appear to have the ability to do what you say. Vogtle is as close to a standardized design as the U.S. has ever tried to build. It was supposed to be a template for future drop-in Westinghouse AP1000 units. Thirty billion dollars for a single power plant. I don't pretend to know why we suck at nuclear, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that Vogtle is the final nail in the coffin of American nuclear power generation. I agree with you on the advantages of nuclear, but this is our reality in the U.S. BTW, we will never solve the nuclear waste disposal problem in the US. We can't even get the nimby's to let us build enough housing for all of us.
  - korantu 5y ago
    It is political issue, so it is a matter of deciding. Climate change will eventually force the decision, so I dont think nuclear coffins will be involved.
    - nate_meurer 5y ago
      I think you're right about the technical advantages and feasibility of properly-done nuclear. I hope you're right about the rest too.

breckenedge 5y ago

Your numbers seemed a bit off from my recollection. Per EDF: > annual per capita radioactive waste generated in France is now 1 kg (of which 11 grams high-level waste), compared with 2,500 kg of industrial waste (of which 100 kg of toxic waste). 100kg of toxic industrial waste + 1kg of radioactive waste. https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/producing-climate-friendly-energy/nuclear-energy/our-expertise/radioactive-waste https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/producing-climate-friend...

korantu 5y ago
The problem is high level radioactive waste that is going to be there for millenia, and is actually the problem. and it is 11 grams per year of that. Low level waste can be just stored until radioactive levels decrease enough, and dealt with as any other waste.