Re:Europe Is Losing Nuclear Power Just When It Needs Energy
by tomp on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @11:18AM
(#30164612)
> In contrast, renewables and storage deploy quickly, on time, and on budget, and the capacity for production is at least an order of magnitude larger than what we can do with nuclear.
Yet EU energy crises keep getting worse. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Re:Europe Is Losing Nuclear Power Just When It Needs Energy
by epistasis on Tuesday February 01, 2022 @04:52PM
(#30169959)
Could you be a bit more clear about your implication here?
Do you think the EU energy crisis is because of renewables somehow? If so, how did you come to that conclusion, and in what way?
Renewables don't generate any energy when they aren't connected to the grid. And natural gas shortages for heating don't really get solved by renewables unless people start installing lots of heat pumps, which they definitely should.
Sites that want nuclear and have the extra money for it should go forward full steam ahead, but current construction capability in both the US is extremely low. Even at maximum build capacity, neither the US nor Europe will be able to build at the pace they had in the 1970s. And as the 1970s-era reactors reach natural end of life, we won't be able to replace them as quickly as they leave the grid.
In contrast, renewables and storage deploy quickly, on time, and on budget, and the capacity for production is at least an order of magnitude larger than what we can do with nuclear.
This isn't an either/or, it's a "yes and" but it turns out that nuclear's contribution will be fairly small in comparison.