4 ms·
> Nuclear has a fixed output, it doesn’t scale up and down the way fossil fuel plants do. This is a very, very old, and very, very solved problem. Today we'd
by gwbas1c 3y ago
> Nuclear has a fixed output, it doesn’t scale up and down the way fossil fuel plants do.
This is a very, very old, and very, very solved problem.
Today we'd solve it with batteries: Discharge when demand outstrips supply, recharge when supply outstrips demand.
In the past, nuclear power was often paired with pumped storage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricit...
Today a lot of pumped storage facilities have outlasted the nuclear power plants they were built to support. Instead of pumping at night, they pump when there's excess solar or wind.