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Re:Macron says France will build new nuclear energy reactors by UncleOxidant on Tuesday November 09, 2021 @06:03PM (#29168765)
> intermittency

What's the uptime for fission plants? I recall that our "local" nuclear power plant (Trojan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Nuclear_Power_Plant ) being down more often than it was up. Maybe it's because it was an old design or something, but it went online in 1975 which doesn't seem that old. It operated from 1975 to 1992.

Re:Macron says France will build new nuclear energy reactors by Manuel_D on Tuesday November 09, 2021 @06:09PM (#29168827)
The uptime (or capacity factor) for fission plants is the highest of any energy source, at over 90% [1] [2]. By comparison, wind and solar at at 35% and 25% respectively.

1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/183680/us-average-capaci...

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacity_factor#Worldwide

Re:Macron says France will build new nuclear energy reactors by pngai on Tuesday November 09, 2021 @06:23PM (#29168938)
Also most downtime for nuclear power is scheduled which helps the grid operator avoid blackouts.
Re:Macron says France will build new nuclear energy reactors by godelski on Tuesday November 09, 2021 @06:31PM (#29168991)
For anyone curious, usually down time is a month every 12-18 months. They refuel, do maintenance, and inspections during this time as well. Usually plants have more than one reactor, so these will be out of phase with one another.
Re:Macron says France will build new nuclear energy reactors by lovemenot on Tuesday November 09, 2021 @07:10PM (#29169341)
Somehow I doubt those figures reflect disaster response downtime, such as we have had in Japan for a decade.

One may argue that was an overreaction, but the people of Japan beg to differ.

Regardless, those shut down reactors ought to drag down capacity factor for the nuclear industry, if the figures are to be credible.

Wind doesn't always blow and people react badly to melt-down. These are both facts of life.

Re:Macron says France will build new nuclear energy reactors by version_five on Tuesday November 09, 2021 @06:06PM (#29168801)
Normally there are multiple reactors and scheduled shutdowns. This is true for any power source. I'm sure there are differences in maintenance efficiency vs coal or hydro, but it's a different question than short term fluctuation that are a characteristic of wind and solar.