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Even if it had never had those issues, nuclear power would still be the textbook example of a fragile system - capital-intensive, centralized projects that can
by eucyclos 11mo ago
Even if it had never had those issues, nuclear power would still be the textbook example of a fragile system - capital-intensive, centralized projects that can be shut down by disruption to fuel shipments halfway round the world, droughts in the cooling system's water sources, or any of a dozen unions of specialized workers going on strike. Add to that iteration cycles measured in decades instead of years and it's hard to imagine how Nuclear could ever even close the gap, let alone pull ahead.
I have a theory that smart financiers avoid nuclear because getting a new version done on time and under budget is so damn hard, and smart physicists gravitate to nuclear for the same reason. I wish the nuclear-curious factions would pivot to a project Orion style endeavor instead of powering a UK hamlet sometime in the 2030s. Now there's something insanely difficult and likely to fail that I wouldn't mind my tax dollars being spent on.
- blitzar 11mo agoCapitalism is extremely poor at "fragile systems", and for whatever reason (water under the bride now) the nuclear industry never made the move to smaller modular systems - even for large installations (think a reactor hall with 20 small cores rather than a single large core). Even this project sounds like a custom on-site build, although at the moment it is still vapourware.
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- wafflemaker 11mo agoBut the wind &solar is highly dependant on rare earth minerals that China can limit at any time. And their condition is for us to accept their highly subsidized products (cars, solar), which make our manufacturers go bankrupt. It also makes us lose manufacturing capacity for dual use products like drones etc.
- pjc50 11mo agoNot once it's installed! And no such conditionality exists.
- zajio1am 11mo agoBatteries are more or less consumables, need occasional replacement. OTOH, fresh nuclear fuel can be stockpiled for decades.
- triceratops 11mo agoChina's happily selling panels so cheaply that you can use them for fencing material and still save money long-term. Batteries too. These things last decades. If they decide to cut you off you have at least 20 years to find alternatives.