Re:Europe Is Losing Nuclear Power Just When It Needs Energy
by robertlagrant on Thursday February 10, 2022 @04:58PM
(#30293270)
I'm not keen to defend anything. I know this can seem unusual, but I'm just trying to understand the situation as well as possible. I'm not treating any option as a team to blindly cheer on.
The problem with what you're saying is that to supply peak power at all times could require building capacity in each method to supply full power, in case the others all fall to zero power. And even then, you hope that they don't all fall to zero, I guess.
This isn't a game of Top Trumps where you need to find any one stat that's higher than your opponents to declare victory.
Nuclear has to be better than wind and solar and hydro and batteries and everything else (demand response, better insulation, undersea grid connectors etc.) all working together across a wide range of metrics to find a place in a modern grid.
It is failing at this. The alternatives are cheaper, better, greener, safer, quicker to build.
Narrowly focusing on one tiny aspect does not change this big picture reality.