5 ms·
> stockpiled Doing so may trigger a market tension. France reprocesses only part of its fuel, and only 1 time. > the problem will be the same Uh? An existi
by natmaka 2y ago
> stockpiled
Doing so may trigger a market tension.
France reprocesses only part of its fuel, and only 1 time.
> the problem will be the same
Uh?
An existing fleet of reactors is moot without uranium.
An existing fleet of renewables just works (it only needs wind, sun, geothermal activity...)
- Moldoteck 2y agoyou need to gradually replace renewables, especially for a grid that was gradually deployed. You still can stockpile nuclear, France does have several years worth of fuel for such emergencies. France reprocesses only part of the fuel, is expanding Orano facility, but why is this relevant? They do it and they get additional un-enriched uranium stockpile. WTH dude? Are you just throwing random antinuclear statements around? Only in german forums i've seen such strong antinuclear opinions
- natmaka 2y agoMost materials used by renewables are eternally (at human scale) reusable. In France recycling 95% of the sheer mass of a wind turbine is now mandatory ( https://www.lemoniteur.fr/article/demantelement-des-eoliennes-terrestres-en-2024-95-de-la-masse-totale-des-aerogenerateurs-devra-etre-reutilisee-ou-recyclee.2294397 https://www.lemoniteur.fr/article/demantelement-des-eolienne... ) > France does have several years worth of fuel Indeed, 'le stock stratégique', about 9 years at best (counting the average amount of uranium already present in reactors). 9 years at best for an overall of your gridpower production system... good luck with this!
- Moldoteck 2y agoI mean... france really doesn't have a problem with n fuel... It's not just classic stockpiles but the reprocessed ones. Needless to say that imports are pretty diversified - even if one country will ban exports to France, they'll not face total ban from all partners, so in this regard they are indeed lucky.
- natmaka 2y agoFrance already encountered challenges: for 5 decades some there pretended that Niger will provide, then it abruptly became tricky ( https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kked7ydqyo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kked7ydqyo ). Some recycling operations (past contracts) involving Russia also had to be maintained during the current embargo. No major problem for now, indeed. However a war or a nuclear renaissance may abruptly lead to challenging conditions, if superpowers need more uranium.
- slt2021 2y agoUranium supply is not an issue at all, given that plenty of nations sell it, it is not rare mineral and can be found in abundance. and you need to replenish uranium fuel like once in 5 years - so this is not an issue at all for nuclear energy
- natmaka 2y ago> Uranium supply is not an issue I disagree: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41783584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41783584 > you need to replenish uranium fuel like once in 5 years At best. Then, if you cannot obtain uranium, your reactor is just a pile of hot waste.
- Moldoteck 2y agoImo I find such statements like 100-150 years of supply similar to the statements about petroleum supply that was about to end and suddenly with demand, new supply was found, just like with other materials like lithium
- natmaka 2y agoThis is a billion dollar bet, who wants to take it? No such risk with renewables.