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No. The EDF did not schedule maintenance of half of its fleet. A quarter yes, a quarter went out unplanned. This caused a huge energy crunch across most of west

No. The EDF did not schedule maintenance of half of its fleet. A quarter yes, a quarter went out unplanned. This caused a huge energy crunch across most of western Europe. When it became clear the EDF doesn't have the situation under control the futures prices exploded everywhere but especially in France. At one point the futures prices there reached almost 2000$ per MWh. I've posted one link that documented the problem from a reputable source, and posted a quote directly here. That you choose to ignore reality and live in a constructed world is a testament to the wishful thinking mentality of the pro nuclear crowd. But like I posted elsewhere it doesn't really matter -- Europe needs to remove fossil fuels and this will happen a lot quicker than most people assume. The ink on the plans for new nuclear plants won't even dry.

mpweiher 4y ago
> No. The EDF did not schedule maintenance of half of its fleet Yes it did. > A quarter yes, a quarter went out unplanned. Great to hear that you are backing off from your "collapse" narrative. But still not quite correct. These were planned shutdowns for planned maintenance/inspections. Some of these inspections found problems, as inspections sometimes do and therefore the plants were offline longer than just the original inspection period and some additional checks were performed and problems were found that had to be remedied. Example here: https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journalists/all-press-releases/edf-updates-its-nuclear-output-estimate-in-france-for-2022 https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journ... And once again: these checks were scheduled for the summer (extended to fall), and even with some of the extended maintenance required most plants were operational again in winter. > Renewables on the other hand are extremely predictable and pretty much always deliver on the prediction LOL. I would really like to be able to schedule our "Dunkelflauten" for the summer ... The only thing that is predictable about renewables is when they definitely won't be available. Which is when we need energy the most. Yay! > This caused a huge energy crunch across most of western Europe. LOL. Attributing the spike in energy prices mono-causally to the scheduled maintenance (taking slightly longer than planned) of a part of France's nuclear fleet that you yourself write didn't take that much to replace is ... cute. Do you think there may have been other events in that time that could have had some impact on energy prices? Like maybe the largest disruption of Europe's energy supply in the last half century? Nah, that can't be it. And it is also important to remember that these are water pipes running under high pressure. Cracks are an expected feature of this system, ask any plumber. Of course they need to be fixed in time, which is why there are regular inspections, but it's not as if there's some catastrophic flaw that was revealed the way it is presented in the press (particularly the German press, though the NY Times article is also pretty bad). And of course you can expect more leakage/cracks as these plants reach the end of their service life, and especially if you defer the needed inspections/maintenance as was done during COVID. It should also be noted that the extraordinary success of the French nuclear program has led to complacency and underinvestment, as that success was increasingly taken for granted. Fortunately that is starting to change, the French are taking their nuclear industry seriously again, and not killing it off in favour of renewable dreams that don't (and didn't) pan out. That success is also reflected in public opinion: "Nearly 80 percent of the French public support nuclear energy, up 20 points from 2016". https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230105-how-france-s-prized-nuclear-sector-stalled-in-europe-s-hour-of-need https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230105-how-france-s-pri... So yes, there are problems. But they're not what you claim (and seem to believe) they are.
- locallost 4y ago
  There was a collapse of nuclear output in France because half of its plants were at one point offline. Of those, about half were unplanned and unscheduled because of "mysterious stress corrosion". Normally a net exporter, France became a net importer of electricity. The surrounding countries kept it on life support all year. The EDF kept postponing deadlines throughout the year because they could not solve the problem. The prices were skyrocketing across western Europe, but at one point (I think late summer, but not sure) they blew up in France only, after yet another delay, reaching almost $2000 per MWh on the futures market. My guess because it became clear that the EDF doesn't have a grip on the issue, and the neighboring countries maybe can't provide enough support in the winter. The government was preparing for blackouts, and pleaded to conserve energy. The situation overall with EDF got so severe that it had to be nationalized. All of this is easily verifiable, and well documented, but only for people that are willing to read and look at facts. For some, you included, this is mostly a religion so I realize it's difficult to get far. It's like telling a person of faith that we have no proof a god exists -- this will not work. So take care.
  - mpweiher 4y ago
    I have provided you with all the evidence. I can't make you actually read and understand it. Have a good one.

mpweiher 4y ago

> No. The EDF did not schedule maintenance of half of its fleet Yes it did. > A quarter yes, a quarter went out unplanned. Great to hear that you are backing off from your "collapse" narrative. But still not quite correct. These were planned shutdowns for planned maintenance/inspections. Some of these inspections found problems, as inspections sometimes do and therefore the plants were offline longer than just the original inspection period and some additional checks were performed and problems were found that had to be remedied. Example here: https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journalists/all-press-releases/edf-updates-its-nuclear-output-estimate-in-france-for-2022 https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journ... And once again: these checks were scheduled for the summer (extended to fall), and even with some of the extended maintenance required most plants were operational again in winter. > Renewables on the other hand are extremely predictable and pretty much always deliver on the prediction LOL. I would really like to be able to schedule our "Dunkelflauten" for the summer ... The only thing that is predictable about renewables is when they definitely won't be available. Which is when we need energy the most. Yay! > This caused a huge energy crunch across most of western Europe. LOL. Attributing the spike in energy prices mono-causally to the scheduled maintenance (taking slightly longer than planned) of a part of France's nuclear fleet that you yourself write didn't take that much to replace is ... cute. Do you think there may have been other events in that time that could have had some impact on energy prices? Like maybe the largest disruption of Europe's energy supply in the last half century? Nah, that can't be it. And it is also important to remember that these are water pipes running under high pressure. Cracks are an expected feature of this system, ask any plumber. Of course they need to be fixed in time, which is why there are regular inspections, but it's not as if there's some catastrophic flaw that was revealed the way it is presented in the press (particularly the German press, though the NY Times article is also pretty bad). And of course you can expect more leakage/cracks as these plants reach the end of their service life, and especially if you defer the needed inspections/maintenance as was done during COVID. It should also be noted that the extraordinary success of the French nuclear program has led to complacency and underinvestment, as that success was increasingly taken for granted. Fortunately that is starting to change, the French are taking their nuclear industry seriously again, and not killing it off in favour of renewable dreams that don't (and didn't) pan out. That success is also reflected in public opinion: "Nearly 80 percent of the French public support nuclear energy, up 20 points from 2016". https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230105-how-france-s-prized-nuclear-sector-stalled-in-europe-s-hour-of-need https://www.france24.com/en/france/20230105-how-france-s-pri... So yes, there are problems. But they're not what you claim (and seem to believe) they are.

locallost 4y ago
There was a collapse of nuclear output in France because half of its plants were at one point offline. Of those, about half were unplanned and unscheduled because of "mysterious stress corrosion". Normally a net exporter, France became a net importer of electricity. The surrounding countries kept it on life support all year. The EDF kept postponing deadlines throughout the year because they could not solve the problem. The prices were skyrocketing across western Europe, but at one point (I think late summer, but not sure) they blew up in France only, after yet another delay, reaching almost $2000 per MWh on the futures market. My guess because it became clear that the EDF doesn't have a grip on the issue, and the neighboring countries maybe can't provide enough support in the winter. The government was preparing for blackouts, and pleaded to conserve energy. The situation overall with EDF got so severe that it had to be nationalized. All of this is easily verifiable, and well documented, but only for people that are willing to read and look at facts. For some, you included, this is mostly a religion so I realize it's difficult to get far. It's like telling a person of faith that we have no proof a god exists -- this will not work. So take care.
- mpweiher 4y ago
  I have provided you with all the evidence. I can't make you actually read and understand it. Have a good one.