4 ms·
Renewables are far from $0 opex, and your statement about 'no reasonable expectation' are somewhat unbased.
by Andrew_nenakhov 4y ago
Renewables are far from $0 opex, and your statement about 'no reasonable expectation' are somewhat unbased.
- ncmncm 4y agoNukes are concrete, steel, pumps, steam turbines, liability subsidy, decommissioning subsidy. None of those get cheaper.
- Andrew_nenakhov 4y agoConcrete and steel costs are negligible in the full costs of the nuclear plant. Complex machinery like turbines, reactors, etc have huge costs that fall of rapidly when you start mass producing them. If you make 2 plants/year the cost per item is X, if you make 100 plants/year the cost per item is X/10 or X/20. Huge part of costs goes into machinery that allows to build the thing. Once you have it, producing more parts becomes way easier.
- ncmncm 4y agoSteam turbines are mature tech whose capex and opex are large and will not change. Likewise, high-pressure plumbing. Thus, costs are not falling, and new starts are negligible. Even China, which asserts they will build 220 of them, has only started 10. The rest will be cancelled as their price is undercut, unless politics forces the matter. China is not cost- or value- driven. (Cf. "Ghost cities".)