It's really quite unfortunate that the promise was not delivered, mostly for political reasons. I hope that a new wave of reactors and the dire need for clean energy restarts the nuclear race.
The economics are not there. Solar + batteries are much cheaper per watt today and still improving. Even better, the solar can come online instantly and expand while US nuclear takes twenty years to start generating any energy.
There is certainly a lot of talk about micro reactors. I have yet to see anything materialize in the US. The MARVEL test reactor is meant for something puny like 100kw. Nuclear is something that benefits from scale -larger installations are just going to have better economics per watt.
No it really does not look that way. It sort of sounds like it might look that way at some point in the future but micro reactors are not useful for utility generation today.
I'm a huge solar fan, but I don't see energy transition happening as quickly as I'd hoped 10 years ago, and what seems apparent now is that it will only happen when energy storage gets 10x cheaper, which is why companies like Form Energy developing iron-air batteries might be the catalyst. You also need grid-forming inverters that balance the loads since relying on hundreds of thousands of residences for grid-tie is a real engineering challenge.
> Solar + batteries are much cheaper per watt today and still improving.
Are we still going to make the same error over and over again? The day China says "stop" the price per watts will explode, just like when Russia and Iran said "stop".
Those aren't really equivalent. Iran is affecting the supply of oil, an input. China can affect the supply of solar panels, but they would have to do something pretty drastic to affect the supply of the input. Sunlight is going to keep reaching the solar panels that were set up prior to any kind of embargo.
Nuclear fuel can also be recycled. The point is, a solar panel produces a finite amount of energy over its lifetime, so it's not exactly comparable to a power plant in terms of energy independence.
It's not appropriate to think of the solar panel as a constant source of power, but the solar panel manufacturing plant. All of our nuclear reactors and fuel are produced in-country, whereas china has dominated solar panel manufacturing and can cut us off. We need to be proactive about manufacturing.
Nothing lasts forever. Even nuclear plants have to eventually be decommissioned. Solar panels may be finite, but they give you a long, predictable horizon.
China might be subsidizing solar panels today. We should load up while we can. Let them bear the initial costs. We should also spin up more domestic manufacturing (which was a component of the IRA). If/when foreign sourced solar panels are no longer available, you are in the exact same position you were the day before. All of that already installed generation capacity will continue to function for years before a crisis emerges.
Nuclear fuel cannot be recycled. Nuclear fuel is consumed during use, that's why it's fuel.
A spent solar panel contains the exact materials needed to make a new solar panel. Chemical changes are cheaply reversible, so you can turn an old solar panel into a new one for less energy than it will produce during it's lifetime. A solar panel factory can operate indefinitely. (Or at least for as long as their is solar energy available.)
Nuclear fuel must be mined. Nuclear changes are reversible, but that requires the same amount of energy you would get back out. The Earth has a finite amount of nuclear fuel. (To be fair, there's a lot. The Earth contains enough fuel to last roughly the lifespan of the Sun.)
Most inverters come from China too, and these need to be replaced much more often that panels.
Anyways, panels are the solution now because we're at peak petrol, that's why they're so cheap, it won't last forever, evem if China keeps the door open
Meh. Cheap seasonal batteries aren't a thing yet so for much of humanity solar + batteries just can't cover the same needs as other means of generation.
abirch · · focus · HN ↗
"It is not too much to expect that our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter,..." Lewis Strauss
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_cheap_to_meter#Origins" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_cheap_to_meter#Origins
Oddly enough my power bill was metered and big.
etatester · · focus · HN ↗
0cf8612b2e1e · · focus · HN ↗
kilroy123 · · focus · HN ↗
pixl97 · · focus · HN ↗
0cf8612b2e1e · · focus · HN ↗
HDThoreaun · · focus · HN ↗
initramfs · · focus · HN ↗
toasty228 · · focus · HN ↗
Are we still going to make the same error over and over again? The day China says "stop" the price per watts will explode, just like when Russia and Iran said "stop".
thecopy · · focus · HN ↗
edaemon · · focus · HN ↗
NoidFonsense · · focus · HN ↗
smallerize · · focus · HN ↗
itishappy · · focus · HN ↗
NoidFonsense · · focus · HN ↗
It's not appropriate to think of the solar panel as a constant source of power, but the solar panel manufacturing plant. All of our nuclear reactors and fuel are produced in-country, whereas china has dominated solar panel manufacturing and can cut us off. We need to be proactive about manufacturing.
0cf8612b2e1e · · focus · HN ↗
China might be subsidizing solar panels today. We should load up while we can. Let them bear the initial costs. We should also spin up more domestic manufacturing (which was a component of the IRA). If/when foreign sourced solar panels are no longer available, you are in the exact same position you were the day before. All of that already installed generation capacity will continue to function for years before a crisis emerges.
NoidFonsense · · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
itishappy · · focus · HN ↗
A spent solar panel contains the exact materials needed to make a new solar panel. Chemical changes are cheaply reversible, so you can turn an old solar panel into a new one for less energy than it will produce during it's lifetime. A solar panel factory can operate indefinitely. (Or at least for as long as their is solar energy available.)
Nuclear fuel must be mined. Nuclear changes are reversible, but that requires the same amount of energy you would get back out. The Earth has a finite amount of nuclear fuel. (To be fair, there's a lot. The Earth contains enough fuel to last roughly the lifespan of the Sun.)
This supports your point even more!
NoidFonsense · · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
toasty228 · · focus · HN ↗
Anyways, panels are the solution now because we're at peak petrol, that's why they're so cheap, it won't last forever, evem if China keeps the door open
brnt · · focus · HN ↗