"New nuclear capacity of 3.3 gigawatts (GW) in 2017 was outweighed by lost capacity of 4.6 GW. Over the past 20 years, there has been modest growth (12.6%, 44 GW) in global nuclear power capacity if reactors currently in long-term outage are included. However, including those reactors ... in the count of âoperableâ or âoperationalâ or âoperatingâ reactors is, as former WNA executive Steve Kidd states, 'misleading' and 'clearly ridiculous'."
- #JimGreen, 2018
https://energypost.eu/nuclear-power-in-crisis-welcome-to-the-era-of-nuclear-decommissioning/
"Renewables (24.5% of global generation) generate more than twice as much electricity as nuclear power (<10.5%) and the gap is growing rapidly. The International Energy Agency predicts renewable energy capacity growth of 43% (920 GW) from 2017 to 2022. Overall, the share of renewables in power generation will reach 30% in 2022 according to the IEA. By then, nuclearâs share will be around 10% and renewables will be out-generating nuclear by a factor of three."
"Lobbyists engaged each other in heated arguments over possible solutions to nuclear powerâs crisis â in a nutshell, some favour industry consolidation while others think innovation is essential, all of them think that taxpayer subsidies need to be massively increased, and none of them are interested in the tedious work of building public support by strengthening nuclear safety and regulatory standards, strengthening the safeguards system, etc."
"One indication of the industryâs desperation has been the recent willingness of industry bodies (such as the US Nuclear Energy Institute) and supporters (such as former US energy secretary Ernest Moniz) to openly acknowledge the connections between nuclear power and weapons, and using those connections as an argument for increased taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power and the broader âcivilâ nuclear fuel cycle."
Chilling.
Also, if you're thinking fast breeder reactors will keep the nuclear power ship afloat:
"The performance of the SuperphĂ©nix reactor was as dismal as Monju. SuperphĂ©nix was meant to be the worldâs first commercial fast reactor but in the 13 years of its miserable existence it rarely operated â its âEnergy Unavailability Factorâ was 90.8% according to the IAEA. Note that the fast reactor lobbyists complain about the intermittency of wind and solar!"
https://energypost.eu/slow-death-fast-reactors/
In summary, renewables come with a range of pros and cons, but they are the only energy option available for a sustainable future.
Yes, together with fossil gas plants to make electricity while renewables don't work.
@kravietz OK, so our hydra-thread on renewables vs. nuclear has gone off in a bunch of fascinating directions. I find the fediverse a shallow and frustrating platform for this style of debate. Would you be willing to pick it up elsewhere?
There's a thread I participated in here https://edgeryders.eu/t/should-the-decarbonized-economy-be-nuclear-powered/11634 and this is better than Mastodon but still completely unstructured.
