MAGA be like:
“Solar energy doesn’t work when the sun isn’t shining”
Renewabros be like:
“Oil isn’t working when the Strait of Hormuz isn’t hormuzing”
I be like:
Nuclear works 24/7, and you can stockpile all the fuel it needs for decades in advance on a parking lot.
@modulux maintenance cycles are only an issue as long as you only have a handful of sites; but once you have dozens or hundreds, they even out?
@GuillaumeRossolini Yeah, I think France has been proving this point for the last few decades.
@modulux Not in the same way though. Geographically you can easily have a wind lull that stretches for a thousand kilometers that can last for days or even weeks. Also, seasonally there are structural issues. Quite different from taking one or two units out of commission for a few weeks while the rest is buzzing along.
@collectifission my only issue with nuclear is that I’ve been told it needs to work at full power all the time (except maintenance cycles), which doesn’t alleviate my worry about wildly changing seasonal needs
Especially as we are electrifying heating
For example my own consumption in the warm season is below 10 kWh per day, but above 100 kWh per day in the winter.
@GuillaumeRossolini This is only half true and stems from an *economic* argument (running at full power creates the best business case), not a technical reason.
You already brought up France: their capacity factors are relatively low, because they're running so many units. Their whole grid needs to adapt daily to consumer needs, so reactors are powered up and down all the time, typically between 100% and 50% of capacity. At the grid level, this gives them a 30 GW flexibility up and down.
Emil Jacobs - Collectifission
modulux
Guillaume Rossolini
Earth Notes
Luke Horn