| ▲ | moomin 13 hours ago | |
I know a small bit about energy in the UK and one thing I know is this isn’t the first time a Labour government has taken a big swing for nuclear. Indeed, I suspect the exact same guy has been behind it both times. But it’s never happened, and I have to suspect this is because, as great as the technology is, the U.K. just doesn’t really need it and it’s not really commercially viable. Renewables plus batteries are already pretty competitive and are only getting cheaper and more effective with every passing year. Gas is still cheap and can take uo the base load slack. The only way this stops being true is if Putin turns the taps off, but he’s blinked too often on that front. | ||
| ▲ | shadowgovt 13 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |
The UK IIUC has a lot of offshore property they can put wind farms (I don't know what that does to traditional uses of the waters, such as fishing; I'm sure there's a row about it). In contrast, they have no domestic uranium sources, right? And while an idea like "One or two nuclear plants could provide for 100% of demand" sounds good, that means there's two locations to target to bring the entire grid down, which has strategic consequences. I'm pretty pro-nuclear and I concur that for the UK, I don't think the risk/reward chart actually pans out the way they want it to. | ||
| ▲ | dazc 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |
Renewables in the UK are intermittent, all at once at not at all. We also have a crazy scenario where we have so much wind power at times that it has to be turned off because the grid can't handle the load and battery storage is scarce - we then compensate the owners of the turbines for the income they lose as a consequence. Gas is very expensive here, we don't buy any from Putin, we import it from the US where it is liquefied, shipped thousands of miles and then un-liquefied for end use. Our businesses are dying trying to compete with countries that pay multiples less for energy than we do. More nuclear would give us long-term, uninterrupted supply - especially since small modular reactors can be located where the power is needed without needing the national infrastructure to be upgraded. | ||