Interesting article. It shows that since nuclear is at least 3x faster to respond than wind power in France at the time of the study, its response time is more than adequate as a major part of the energy mix. However, even in France with their dozens of reactors, it is not fast enough to respond to more than 2/3 of peak demand changes (100MW/min of their peak 150MW/min change in demand).

It seems obvious that it's extremely useful to be able to produce so much electricity and reduce the need for fast switching power by 2/3. Surely 100MW/min of fast switching energy storage is not without its own massive environmental footprint, something that significantly reduces the calculated impact of nuclear.

If we could ramp up construction of solar, wind, and long range transmission capabilities to the point where they could effectively respond to all demand, we would not need to have a conversation. But in the midst of worldwide supply chain disruptions that will likely last for years, it seems irresponsible, even extremely irresponsible, to push aside the parallelization of additional low emission energy production capabilities. Seeing as this is all very time sensitive at this point, and the consequences of failure are likely a widespread collapse of society and suffering for generations.

I made one major error there. Since the article is based on actual performance rather than an intimate knowledge of France's grid capabilities, it is wrong to presume that their historical 100MW/min ramp up was the best they could do, rather than all that was required and basically just an algorithmic artifact. I got that in the comparison to wind, but somehow missed it in comparison to their total fast switch requirements.