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> Nuclear power has been killed off by economic forces That turns out not to be the case. Everywhere nuclear was killed off it was killed off purely by politi
by mpweiher 5mo ago
> Nuclear power has been killed off by economic forces
That turns out not to be the case. Everywhere nuclear was killed off it was killed off purely by political forces.
> there’s no turning back
That also turns out not to be the case:
1. Sweden enacted a nuclear phase-out, turned back
2. Japan shut off all its nuclear plants, turned back
3. Belgium enacted a nuclear phase out, turned back
4. Taiwan enacted a nuclear phase out, is turning back
5. Italy enacted a nuclear phase out, is turning back
In fact, the number of countries that have turned back from a nuclear phase-out to re-embracing nuclear power is larger than the number of countries that are sticking to nuclear phase-outs. Never mind the countries that never embraced that particular madness ("World's Dumbest Energy Policy") in the first place or that are just now turning to nuclear power.
Countries representing 70% of the world's GDP have agreed to triple nuclear generating capacity, and that doesn't include India, which has its own plans to triple much sooner.
> [electricity prices in] negative territory
That's not a good thing. It means the electricity is worth less than nothing, essentially garbage, not that it doesn't cost anything to produce. In fact, it costs a lot of money to first produce this useless electricity and then more money to dispose of it. A lose-lose.
One of the reasons Germany, for example, has among the highest electricity prices in the world. And this correlation of high intermittent renewable penetration and high electricity prices holds worldwide.
> The break-even point for France’s EDF for old nuclear power plants that had long since been written off financially was at roughly the same level [€700 in 2020.
Also not true. Even the ARENH price was €40/MWh in 2020. And that still left margin. German plants were delivering electric at around €20-€30 / MWh.
> There were solid economic reasons why EDF was recently nationalized 100%
EDF was not recently nationalized. It was always a state company, with 100% state ownership for most of its existence. For a brief time, around 15% were held by private entities. These were bought out to simplify control for the upcoming nuclear investment program. At the same time, investments in intermittent renewables have been scaled back.