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> A nuclear reactor cannot be shipped. There does exist an exception to this. Russia built a floating nuclear power plant. There is a lot of controversy around
by belorn 4y ago
> A nuclear reactor cannot be shipped.
There does exist an exception to this. Russia built a floating nuclear power plant. There is a lot of controversy around it.
However the main claim that economy is the center of the argument is true. Fossil fuels are exceptional cheap as a battery solution to be combined with solar and wind, especially wind which don't have 365 days of charge cycles. Natural gas in Europe play the central role of filling in when wind/solar production goes down, with oil and coal coming in next. Since fossil fuels aren't burned all the time, a much higher cost per kw/h is tolerated, even when the spot price reaches upwards to 10x higher than the average cost. This winter they are expecting prices to exceed that by twice or more, and the average this year is already looking to be twice of last year.
The economics right now is a bit funky. Nuclear has most of their cost attached to the constructions, so with energy prices being almost doubled compared to last year, nuclear is looking quite economical. If inflation continues as it has been then a nuclear plant built 30 years will start to look really cheap compared to a wind + gas turbine. The biggest winners in term of profit however are the gas power plant owners, seeing record profits as a result of being able to charge record prices.
- tekknik 4y ago> Russia built a floating nuclear power plant. There is a lot of controversy around it. There are many floating reactors, they’re called aircraft carriers and warships. At any rate, an actual shippable reactor is available and the first will be built in 2029: https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/nuscale-smr-approval-nuclear-power https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/nuscale-smr-approval-nucl...