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> How are you getting uranium at scale? Mining. > What do you need to mine at scale? O&G. So existing workforce in mines and O&G can transition to new green e

by xyst 2y ago

> How are you getting uranium at scale? Mining. > What do you need to mine at scale? O&G. So existing workforce in mines and O&G can transition to new green economy. Gotcha… > Nuclear also has extremely high upfront costs with significant opposition from society, making land acquisition and maintenance costs extremely high. So let’s stop giving (profitable) O&G billions of dollars in subsidies at the state, federal levels. Redirect subsidies towards acquiring land and maintenance (again more jobs…) > It's difficult to make a case to unionized employees at in the O&G industry to say goodbye to SWE level salaries. Unlike SWEs, those “SWE level salaries” come at the price of high risk of dismemberment, death, and injury. Offshore oil rigs and domestic oil fields are dangerous working environments. Plus is working 12 hr days really worth whatever 6 figures they pay you? Sure you _may_ have a shit ton of money towards the end of your tenure. But lose out on watching your kids grow up.

alephnerd 2y ago
> So existing workforce in mines and O&G can transition to new green economy. Gotcha ~90% of global uranium produced comes from 4 countries - Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia, and Australia - not the US. > Unlike SWEs, those “SWE level salaries” come at the price of high risk of dismemberment, death, and injury. Offshore oil rigs and domestic oil fields are dangerous working environments These are dangerous jobs, but clearly the only jobs available in a lot of these areas. As I noted previously, most renewable energy jobs (including nuclear) require some form of college education or significant retraining. It's going to be tough convincing someone to leave a well paid and well benefited job, when the alternative industry is heavily automated and thus doesn't require the same amount of employment. Let's be brutally honest - you aren't going to convince a PV fab to invest in manufacturing in Odessa TX or build a nuclear power plant in Nenana AK. The human capital just doesn't exist AND it is a fairly specialized engineering discipline that cannot be taught on the fly. ------------ I fully agree with you about the need to prioritize renewables, but you are doing a massive disservice to the cause if you are ignoring the very real concerns tens of thousands of employees in the O&G industry have. These are hard questions, and hand waving them away with platitudes like "retraining" is just setting the movement up for failure.

by xyst 2y ago

alephnerd 2y ago

> So existing workforce in mines and O&G can transition to new green economy. Gotcha ~90% of global uranium produced comes from 4 countries - Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia, and Australia - not the US. > Unlike SWEs, those “SWE level salaries” come at the price of high risk of dismemberment, death, and injury. Offshore oil rigs and domestic oil fields are dangerous working environments These are dangerous jobs, but clearly the only jobs available in a lot of these areas. As I noted previously, most renewable energy jobs (including nuclear) require some form of college education or significant retraining. It's going to be tough convincing someone to leave a well paid and well benefited job, when the alternative industry is heavily automated and thus doesn't require the same amount of employment. Let's be brutally honest - you aren't going to convince a PV fab to invest in manufacturing in Odessa TX or build a nuclear power plant in Nenana AK. The human capital just doesn't exist AND it is a fairly specialized engineering discipline that cannot be taught on the fly. ------------ I fully agree with you about the need to prioritize renewables, but you are doing a massive disservice to the cause if you are ignoring the very real concerns tens of thousands of employees in the O&G industry have. These are hard questions, and hand waving them away with platitudes like "retraining" is just setting the movement up for failure.