6 ms·

How come Sweden as cheap nuclear power? The main reason electricity is kinda expensive in Sweden is because the EU forces is to export our cheap nuclear energy

by jeltz 10mo ago

How come Sweden as cheap nuclear power? The main reason electricity is kinda expensive in Sweden is because the EU forces is to export our cheap nuclear energy to Denmark and Germany.

Retric 10mo ago
Subsides, the cost to produce electricity and the cost charged for that energy end up very different.
ViewTrick1002 10mo ago
Paid off nuclear plants produce quite cheap electricity. The problem is that it takes 10-15 years of building and then 40 years of paying $180-220/MWh to get a paid off nuclear plant as per modern western construction costs.
- Retric 10mo ago
  In terms of pure operating costs ignoring everything else it can look good vs other sources that include all costs. However, ‘Paid off nuclear’ in terms of construction costs still needs to worry about decommissioning, and their maintenance costs keep increasing every year. Several power plants have looked at going offline for potentially years and spending billions at around year 40 to get to year ~60 as not being worth the investment. That’s the issue with projecting those long lifespans, the buildings/containment structure/cooling tower may be fine but that doesn’t mean the pipes, pumps, turbines, and control systems etc are still fine.
  - janc_ 10mo ago
    And don't forget the cost of storing nuclear waste for the next 10000 years, which is never included in the "cost of nuclear".
    - nandomrumber 10mo ago
      What nuclear waste? Where is it? Somebody must be able to point to the nuclear waste by now. There it is, waving frantically in panic, the nuclear waste! It’s coming right for us! Something is either highly radioactive for a short amount of time, or not very radioactive for a long amount of time. But never both highly radioactive and for a long time. In reality, there is so little nuclear waste that most of it has mostly been stored on site where it was generated, taking up less space than any grid scale solar or wind.
      - ImPostingOnHN 10mo ago
        > What nuclear waste? Where is it? Good question! Since you asked: it is largely in cooling pools and piling up in empty lots around nuclear power plants, waiting for safe, secure storage to appear. > Something is either highly radioactive for a short amount of time, or not very radioactive for a long amount of time. This is not true at all, unless you consider "short amount of time" to include decades to centuries to millenia.
        TheSpiceIsLife 10mo ago
        > around nuclear power plants Exactly what I said. > This is not true at all Yes it is. I mean, if you’re going to dispute my point without providing any evidence, then all we’ve got is opinions. If we’ve got data, let’s go with the data. If all we’ve got is opinions, let’s go with mine.
        Retric 10mo ago
        > I mean, if you’re going to dispute my point without providing any evidence Pure Americium-241 is extremely radioactive 0.0000045 grams of the stuff puts off useful amounts of radiation for smoke detectors, it’s half life is also 432 years. As an alpha emitter it’s not that bad to stand next to but internally it doesn’t take much to be lethal.
        TheSpiceIsLife 10mo ago

by jeltz 10mo ago

How come Sweden as cheap nuclear power? The main reason electricity is kinda expensive in Sweden is because the EU forces is to export our cheap nuclear energy to Denmark and Germany.

Retric 10mo ago

Subsides, the cost to produce electricity and the cost charged for that energy end up very different.

ViewTrick1002 10mo ago

Paid off nuclear plants produce quite cheap electricity. The problem is that it takes 10-15 years of building and then 40 years of paying $180-220/MWh to get a paid off nuclear plant as per modern western construction costs.

Retric 10mo ago
In terms of pure operating costs ignoring everything else it can look good vs other sources that include all costs. However, ‘Paid off nuclear’ in terms of construction costs still needs to worry about decommissioning, and their maintenance costs keep increasing every year. Several power plants have looked at going offline for potentially years and spending billions at around year 40 to get to year ~60 as not being worth the investment. That’s the issue with projecting those long lifespans, the buildings/containment structure/cooling tower may be fine but that doesn’t mean the pipes, pumps, turbines, and control systems etc are still fine.
- janc_ 10mo ago
  And don't forget the cost of storing nuclear waste for the next 10000 years, which is never included in the "cost of nuclear".
  - nandomrumber 10mo ago
    What nuclear waste? Where is it? Somebody must be able to point to the nuclear waste by now. There it is, waving frantically in panic, the nuclear waste! It’s coming right for us! Something is either highly radioactive for a short amount of time, or not very radioactive for a long amount of time. But never both highly radioactive and for a long time. In reality, there is so little nuclear waste that most of it has mostly been stored on site where it was generated, taking up less space than any grid scale solar or wind.
    - ImPostingOnHN 10mo ago
      > What nuclear waste? Where is it? Good question! Since you asked: it is largely in cooling pools and piling up in empty lots around nuclear power plants, waiting for safe, secure storage to appear. > Something is either highly radioactive for a short amount of time, or not very radioactive for a long amount of time. This is not true at all, unless you consider "short amount of time" to include decades to centuries to millenia.
      - TheSpiceIsLife 10mo ago
        > around nuclear power plants Exactly what I said. > This is not true at all Yes it is. I mean, if you’re going to dispute my point without providing any evidence, then all we’ve got is opinions. If we’ve got data, let’s go with the data. If all we’ve got is opinions, let’s go with mine.
        Retric 10mo ago
        > I mean, if you’re going to dispute my point without providing any evidence Pure Americium-241 is extremely radioactive 0.0000045 grams of the stuff puts off useful amounts of radiation for smoke detectors, it’s half life is also 432 years. As an alpha emitter it’s not that bad to stand next to but internally it doesn’t take much to be lethal.
        TheSpiceIsLife 10mo ago