Comment by Luc
13 hours ago
Of course a 1960's design isn't adapted to current weather conditions. That doesn't mean the whole technology is useless, like so many commenters imply.
Any new build can and will include cooling adapted to hotter conditions.
There's a nuclear reaction in the sky beaming free energy to us, let's just use that
Hungary is already using that (today we were 90% carbon-free thanks to solar), the problem is what to do when it gets dark.
Collect solar power in orbit (where sunlight is uninterrupted) and microwave[0] it to earth.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_power_transfer#Microw...
Batteries?
Starting this year, in Romania you cannot put new PV capacity online without the storage for it, is mandatory. Possibly for existing ones, but I am not sure.
3 replies →
"the problem is what to do when it gets dark"
Batteries (or pumped storage hydro, which is more like a gravity-driven capacitor)
3 replies →
Calling the sun’s fusion "a nuclear reaction" in a discussion about fission reactors is a bit silly.
> let's just use that
Also, let’s use both?
The one that shut down in Romania is a CANDU, built in the 80s.
It's not matter of "can", it's a matter of "how much does it cost?" and "who pays for that?".
Precisely why the Netherlands does not have nuclear power plants. Cheap coal. Cheap oil. Cheap gas. And now cheap wind and solar.
They just absolutely cannot math the math which leaves ideology and this ain't France.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_Netherlan...
[flagged]
You're probably going to struggle to come up with a motive for that behaviour. It is much more likely that they simply aren't very thoughtful. Complex webs of deception in a public argument are certainly possible, but it generally relies on some group having a clear financial incentive to misdirect. That doesn't exist in the nuclear debate.
> a clear financial incentive to misdirect. That doesn't exist in the nuclear debate.
It's very obviously not in the interests of "big fossile" to go either solar or nuclear.
1 reply →
>You're probably going to struggle to come up with a motive for that behaviour.
No, I'm not. Not in the slightest.
Number in top right go up. Monkey brain feel goooooood when that happen. Monkey brain keep doing behavior that make that happen.
> It is much more likely that they simply aren't very thoughtful.
They're plenty thoughtful. They'll contrive all sorts of arcane logic, plausibly deniable lies and witty turns of phrase (some of which are quite impressive).
What they're not is self aware (the dishonesty is a byproduct of that).
> Complex webs of deception
Those are possible but I don't think that's what's happening here.
> but it generally relies on some group having a clear financial incentive to misdirect.
Internet fanboys work for free. They have no financial incentive. Therefore we fall back to the monkey brain incentive.