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Nuke fanboys hate this one weird trick (economics)

by dalyons 1mo ago

rightnutwingjob 1mo ago
“Nuclear is too expensive.” Enter pumped hydro: The $12 billion Snowy 2.0 scheme will cop further cost and timeline blowouts, auditors say, but the project has been beset with management failures and the government-owned corporation delivering the project cannot yet say how much more it will cost and how much longer it will take.[1] My proposed solution: invite any of the 31 nuclear power reactor operating countries over to Australia to build them for us, and teach us how to do it. 1. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/extreme-risk-of-yet-more-cost-construction-blowouts-at-snowy-2-0-20260618-p6082n.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/extreme-risk-of-yet-...
- leonidasrup 1mo ago
  "A 2009 poll conducted by the Uranium Information Centre found that Australians in the 40 to 55 years age group are the "most trenchantly opposed to nuclear power". This generation was raised during the Cold War, experienced the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s, witnessed the 1979 partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in the US, and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It was the generation which was also subject to cultural influences including feature films such as the "nuclear industry conspiracies" The China Syndrome and Silkwood and the apocalyptic Dr Strangelove. Younger people are "less resistant" to the idea of nuclear power in Australia. Analysis of opinion polls from 2012 shows a "significant decrease in favourable views of nuclear power" following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Austr... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Australia Decarbonisation is very much discussed in Australia, but not much progress has been done, because coal and natural gas is cheap in Australia. Australia also one of the largest coal exporters in the world. https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/decarbonisation/pathways-for-Australia-report https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/decar... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?time=1988..latest&country=AUS~NZL~BHR~CAN https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_gas_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_g... https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coal-exports-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coal-expo...
  - dalyons 29d ago
    Australian electricity in 2026 is about 45% renewable. And rising fast. 40% of Australian homes have rooftop solar. How is this “not much progress”? Yes more could be done but that is massive progress Also, I’m not sure what point you’re making about public opinions. They’ve soured because it’s an economicly uncompetitive option, plus some safety fears. Seems rational to me.
- defrost 1mo ago
  CSIRO releases final 2024-25 GenCost report following consultation * The report found renewables remain the lowest-cost new-build electricity generation technology, while nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) are the most costly. * Electricity systems rely on a mix of technologies, because no single option can deliver all the capabilities required for a reliable, secure and flexible supply. ~ https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2025/july/2024-25-gencost-final-report https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2025/july/2024-25-genc... Nuclear power, in Australia, relies upon high upfront costs with an uncertain delivery timeline; there are no sizeable existing nuclear power skillsets in the country, no living experience of construction, and a history of global clusterfucks when it comes to third party power station construction / delivery. For the same money that maybe gets Australia some turnkey nuclear power by 2040 (ish) there can be nearly immediate delivery of solar power, battery farms, geological hydrogen storage, mini hydro, etc. Right now, in Australia, nuclear isn't a pragmatic economically feasible choice.
- anenefan 1mo ago
  Uranium based nuclear is ... a headache to say the very least, if not for the realisation that any waste sites will require much more security than they do presently, not ideal for the issue of decommissioning large uranium nuclear plants when they reach end of life. [1] [2] Perhaps the smaller reactor plants might not quite the same level of trouble decommissioning them. Almost always what echoes in the quiet gap between the reality there is if not multiple billions of dollars of expenditure to implement going nuclear with Uranium, is the repetitive assertion just having all that Uranium is why we should go ahead with it. Well actually we have plenty of Thorium too, and the by product waste is not as great an issue. [1] https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-waste/decommissioning-nuclear-facilities https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-c... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Cs8I-6PkQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Cs8I-6PkQ [video 27 mins] How a Nuclear Power Plant Is Actually Decommissioned — The Full $20B Process - can take 30 to 60 years - average US nuclear plant decommission cost sits around 10 billion dollars.

Nuke fanboys hate this one weird trick (economics)

by dalyons 1mo ago

Nuke fanboys hate this one weird trick (economics)

“Nuclear is too expensive.” Enter pumped hydro: The $12 billion Snowy 2.0 scheme will cop further cost and timeline blowouts, auditors say, but the project has been beset with management failures and the government-owned corporation delivering the project cannot yet say how much more it will cost and how much longer it will take.[1] My proposed solution: invite any of the 31 nuclear power reactor operating countries over to Australia to build them for us, and teach us how to do it. 1. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/extreme-risk-of-yet-more-cost-construction-blowouts-at-snowy-2-0-20260618-p6082n.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/extreme-risk-of-yet-...

leonidasrup 1mo ago
"A 2009 poll conducted by the Uranium Information Centre found that Australians in the 40 to 55 years age group are the "most trenchantly opposed to nuclear power". This generation was raised during the Cold War, experienced the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s, witnessed the 1979 partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in the US, and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It was the generation which was also subject to cultural influences including feature films such as the "nuclear industry conspiracies" The China Syndrome and Silkwood and the apocalyptic Dr Strangelove. Younger people are "less resistant" to the idea of nuclear power in Australia. Analysis of opinion polls from 2012 shows a "significant decrease in favourable views of nuclear power" following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement_in_Austr... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Australia Decarbonisation is very much discussed in Australia, but not much progress has been done, because coal and natural gas is cheap in Australia. Australia also one of the largest coal exporters in the world. https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/decarbonisation/pathways-for-Australia-report https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/decar... https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?time=1988..latest&country=AUS~NZL~BHR~CAN https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_gas_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_natural_g... https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coal-exports-by-country https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coal-expo...
- dalyons 29d ago
  Australian electricity in 2026 is about 45% renewable. And rising fast. 40% of Australian homes have rooftop solar. How is this “not much progress”? Yes more could be done but that is massive progress Also, I’m not sure what point you’re making about public opinions. They’ve soured because it’s an economicly uncompetitive option, plus some safety fears. Seems rational to me.
defrost 1mo ago
CSIRO releases final 2024-25 GenCost report following consultation * The report found renewables remain the lowest-cost new-build electricity generation technology, while nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) are the most costly. * Electricity systems rely on a mix of technologies, because no single option can deliver all the capabilities required for a reliable, secure and flexible supply. ~ https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2025/july/2024-25-gencost-final-report https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2025/july/2024-25-genc... Nuclear power, in Australia, relies upon high upfront costs with an uncertain delivery timeline; there are no sizeable existing nuclear power skillsets in the country, no living experience of construction, and a history of global clusterfucks when it comes to third party power station construction / delivery. For the same money that maybe gets Australia some turnkey nuclear power by 2040 (ish) there can be nearly immediate delivery of solar power, battery farms, geological hydrogen storage, mini hydro, etc. Right now, in Australia, nuclear isn't a pragmatic economically feasible choice.
anenefan 1mo ago
Uranium based nuclear is ... a headache to say the very least, if not for the realisation that any waste sites will require much more security than they do presently, not ideal for the issue of decommissioning large uranium nuclear plants when they reach end of life. [1] [2] Perhaps the smaller reactor plants might not quite the same level of trouble decommissioning them. Almost always what echoes in the quiet gap between the reality there is if not multiple billions of dollars of expenditure to implement going nuclear with Uranium, is the repetitive assertion just having all that Uranium is why we should go ahead with it. Well actually we have plenty of Thorium too, and the by product waste is not as great an issue. [1] https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-waste/decommissioning-nuclear-facilities https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-c... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Cs8I-6PkQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Cs8I-6PkQ [video 27 mins] How a Nuclear Power Plant Is Actually Decommissioned — The Full $20B Process - can take 30 to 60 years - average US nuclear plant decommission cost sits around 10 billion dollars.