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.
@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
Guillaume Rossolini