MattMastodon

@Claidheamh

Because there are a number of problems with #nuclear

It's so expensive it requires state support to even get the financing off the ground. And a wealthy state at that.

Safety issues mean the risk has to be underwritten by a government as no insurer will touch it

Disposal costs destroy the economic viability so this has to be underwritten by the state

They consume huge amounts of water

So, even China is backing off from nuclear

#ukpolitics #uspol

https://www.colorado.edu/cas/2022/04/12/even-china-cannot-rescue-nuclear-power-its-woes#:~:text=There%20are%20accident%20risks%20and,China%20can%20expand%20nuclear%20energy.

@Claidheamh

We certainly need to spend the money now on #renewables to get #ZeroCarbon and mitigate #climate breakdown.

I assume you are talking about #embodied energy and found this.

But I would say embodied energy of renewables or #nuclear is almost irrelevant as it is a one off. It's an investment so will reap a massive reward in CO2 reduction year on year.

However, cost is a real problem for nuclear. And in terms of scaling up fast, #wind & #solar seem best.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/solar-wind-nuclear-amazingly-low-carbon-footprints/

@Claidheamh

Well zeros can make a big difference and the cost is not to be sniffed at. Our local reactor is looking to cost 40 billion. You could run every school and hospital in Wales for 2 years with that amount of money and have spare change to build a couple of tidal lagoons.

You can easily build 1000 wind turbines for the cost of one reactor and do it in less time.

Of course, when they get fusion going...

@Claidheamh

That's a big claim, and having watched a #nuclear power station being built I struggle to agree. Especially if you look at full life cycle from mining uranium to disposal.

Also most of the work with a #windmill is establishing the site. Once done repairs and upgrades are cheap.

And #renewables are quick. Chuck a spare at it and you'll have useful energy in a few months. The main problem in the UK is government obstructing them.

And they're still being built.

@Ardubal @Pampa @AlexisFR @Wirrvogel @Sodis

Thanks for this. You have raised many interesting points and are obviously very knowledgeable.

I think #H2 may also be a read herring also. At the moment the cost of green hydrogen is so much higher than blue hydrogen, the cynic in me is wondering if this is just an excuse to rebrand fossil fuels

If my calculations about battery tech are correct we will have lots of #batteries very soon.

More than we would need for a few days

Very soon

@Pampa @AlexisFR @Wirrvogel @Ardubal @Sodis

So

One #nuclear power station will buy about a million #electric cars. Most #EVs have a 300km range but most days go <30km.

So the mean available #energy capacity of all these cars would run the #UK for 24 hours using #V2G (Vehicle to grid)

This could be a massive #car share scheme with a couple of EVs on every street

Or #electricbuses

All the energy could come from #wind or #solar and the #battery fills the gaps when there is no wind

#climate