3 ms·
> So it makes no sense to use a more expensive energy source than renewables just because you've been convinced renewables are too unsafe. I agree. But it do
by kube-system 3y ago
> So it makes no sense to use a more expensive energy source than renewables just because you've been convinced renewables are too unsafe.
I agree. But it does make sense to use nuclear for other practical reasons. It works well for fulfilling base load. Renewables are great but transmission and storage is a bitch for those which are not dispatchable.
Where nuclear shines is in replacing other base loads, like coal.
- pfdietz 3y agoNuclear is so much more expensive than renewables that even with issues of storage and transmission, nuclear still loses at base load. This is especially the case when one projects costs into the future, with nuclear having to compete against the renewable and storage technologies of 10, 20, 30 years hence.
- kube-system 3y agoThis can depend on the local market and natural resources available.
- pfdietz 3y agoIt's becoming true in most places. Nuclear has been backed into a corner in places like Poland. But if nuclear is a niche technology it has two problems: it won't improve quickly, and it will have a hard time maintaining its technology base and may even regress. As an example of that, the US can no longer make the forged steel pressure vessels for PWRs. At this point, pro-nuclear thinking is increasingly magical in nature. New reactor types will solve everything, never mind they can't be on the market for a very long time.