4 ms·

If you have 7 of these and you find a flaw in its design you have to take down the power for the entire country. Something similar happened in France recently:

If you have 7 of these and you find a flaw in its design you have to take down the power for the entire country. Something similar happened in France recently: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/safety-concerns-raised-for-third-french-nuclear-plant/ https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/saf...

Aachen 5y ago
If only we could have both types of energy source. Cover the gaps in solar/wind with nuclear, cover the gaps in nuclear with solar/wind. Sprinkle a small amount of pumped hydro and battery storage on top and what a world it could be.
- est31 5y ago
  Nuclear can't be shut down / turned on on a short term basis, there is a lot of inertia. It might be a solution for seasonal issues only, but in Germany, there's usually wind during the no-sun season, and sun during the no-wind season.
  - Aachen 5y ago
    Sun can be predicted. Not sure what the reaction time is and how far ahead we can reliably forecast wind, but even if there is zero response possible to wind fluctuations that still seems like a win. Afaik fuel is also not the biggest cost in nuclear so estimating on the high side might not be an issue (but this is admittedly where I veer into speculation).
    - natmaka 5y ago
      Uranium (as a nuclear fuel) cost may never become prohibitive, however ore grade may prove a major challenge as its decline leads to more emissions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30660554 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30660554
- natmaka 5y ago
  With such a (realistic) approach nuclear is condemned because its production costs (LCOE: https://www.lazard.com/perspective/lcoe2020 https://www.lazard.com/perspective/lcoe2020 ) are higher than renewables' (and the gap is enlarging). Therefore renewables will be preferably used. Nuclear gets more expensive as it is more sparsely used: this feedback loop will widen the gap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJJ7n_Ryjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJJ7n_Ryjg With time renewables production will get less an less intermittent thanks to a more and more adequate spreading, to a mix (wind, solar...), to storage (hydrogen...) and an overly-expensive nuclear will become useless. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/180592/european-cooperation-could-provide-more-stable/ https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/180592/european-cooperation-...

Aachen 5y ago

If only we could have both types of energy source. Cover the gaps in solar/wind with nuclear, cover the gaps in nuclear with solar/wind. Sprinkle a small amount of pumped hydro and battery storage on top and what a world it could be.

est31 5y ago
Nuclear can't be shut down / turned on on a short term basis, there is a lot of inertia. It might be a solution for seasonal issues only, but in Germany, there's usually wind during the no-sun season, and sun during the no-wind season.
- Aachen 5y ago
  Sun can be predicted. Not sure what the reaction time is and how far ahead we can reliably forecast wind, but even if there is zero response possible to wind fluctuations that still seems like a win. Afaik fuel is also not the biggest cost in nuclear so estimating on the high side might not be an issue (but this is admittedly where I veer into speculation).
  - natmaka 5y ago
    Uranium (as a nuclear fuel) cost may never become prohibitive, however ore grade may prove a major challenge as its decline leads to more emissions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30660554 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30660554
natmaka 5y ago
With such a (realistic) approach nuclear is condemned because its production costs (LCOE: https://www.lazard.com/perspective/lcoe2020 https://www.lazard.com/perspective/lcoe2020 ) are higher than renewables' (and the gap is enlarging). Therefore renewables will be preferably used. Nuclear gets more expensive as it is more sparsely used: this feedback loop will widen the gap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJJ7n_Ryjg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJJ7n_Ryjg With time renewables production will get less an less intermittent thanks to a more and more adequate spreading, to a mix (wind, solar...), to storage (hydrogen...) and an overly-expensive nuclear will become useless. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/180592/european-cooperation-could-provide-more-stable/ https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/180592/european-cooperation-...