3 ms·
I’m optimistic we could find a way to ramp nuclear up and down. We don’t do it now because it’s easier to run it at full capacity for economic and safety reason
by maliker 4y ago
I’m optimistic we could find a way to ramp nuclear up and down. We don’t do it now because it’s easier to run it at full capacity for economic and safety reasons. Adding some thermal storage (which the SMR companies are trying) or varying the reaction rate are in the area of research but certainly seem feasible.
- lamontcg 4y agoIf you can add thermal storage to a nuclear plant, you can add thermal storage to a solar or wind farm and do it cheaper.
- maliker 4y agoThermal storage is harder to integrate with renewables because you need a recovery mechanism, i.e. a steam turbine. Because nuke plants already have the turbines, it’s cheaper to collocate the storage there. I could see a future where the nuke and fossil plants are converted into thermal storage facilities without the boilers to reuse the existing turbines (and permits to operate, and interconnection agreements).
- lamontcg 4y agorenewables with a recovery mechanism is still simpler engineering than a nuclear plant.
- merb 4y agoI’m optimistic we could find a way to ramp solar/wind up and down. We don’t do it now because it’s easier to run it at full capacity for economic and safety reasons. Adding some thermal storage (which the SMR companies are trying) or varying the reaction rate are in the area of research but certainly seem feasible.
- sanderjd 4y agoWe can't ramp them up because they are dependent on natural forces (weather patterns and the rotation of the earth) that we can't control.
- sanderjd 4y agoThanks for the info. I've asked people this question ("is there a fundamental reason why nuclear can't vary?") but nobody that I've asked yet has known the answer. So this is helpful!