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Elon Musk Wisdom: "Bring back Nuclear Power you Fools!" (the abridged version)

TylerD

Member
That's less than people who hire window cleaners every few months. It's just wiping dust and grime off glass.

I haven't cleaned mine and installed them in early 2020. After a good hard rain, I don't see anything on them and haven't noticed much if any drop in efficiency.
 
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Meicyn

Gold Member
The only problem with nuclear power is that certain people can't make money out of it.
They can make money, it’s just a huge cost (risk) to take upfront. This is where the government can help subsidize creating more nuclear power plants as an investment for our future, like the interstate highway system. It will pay dividends in the long run.
 

Wildebeest

Member
Please do, I don't know what you mean.
Half of the world's gas and oil supply is controlled by dictatorships who regularly try to hold us hostage and make us do things we don't want to do. You could say just don't buy from the bad guys, but then prices would go through the roof. Look at the 1970s oil crisis and what is happening today.
 

Helghan

Member
Half of the world's gas and oil supply is controlled by dictatorships who regularly try to hold us hostage and make us do things we don't want to do. You could say just don't buy from the bad guys, but then prices would go through the roof. Look at the 1970s oil crisis and what is happening today.
But there are other solutions besides gas and nuclear... A lot of countries are putting money into renewable energy (sun/wind). Which is much cheaper than nuclear. You should have a mix of both of course, there's always a chance of 5 days of barely any sun and wind, and you're in trouble if you don't have nuclear to catch that gap. But preferably you would like most of it in renewables to lower the energy prices.
 

Boss Mog

Member
But there are other solutions besides gas and nuclear... A lot of countries are putting money into renewable energy (sun/wind). Which is much cheaper than nuclear. You should have a mix of both of course, there's always a chance of 5 days of barely any sun and wind, and you're in trouble if you don't have nuclear to catch that gap. But preferably you would like most of it in renewables to lower the energy prices.
Nuclear is the safest, cleanest, cheapest energy source period. To say otherwise is to deny facts.
 

Helghan

Member
Nuclear is the safest, cleanest, cheapest energy source period. To say otherwise is to deny facts.
Are you just trolling now?

Safest? How is it safer compared to wind and sun?
Cheapest? It's literally one of the most expensive energy source there is.
Cleanest? Depends on how you look at it. New power plants, sure. Old ones, with the amount of waste they generate, not so much.
 
If average IQ is going down shouldn't we be worried our descendants will be unable to repair/operate these? I am pro nuclear generally, but I'm concerned that demographic collapse along with lowering average IQ may mean that any really advanced technologies we have today may end up being useless hazards.


I don't trust our society to deal with complicated problems created by implementation of advanced technology. I think the problems that cause our IQ to lower will get worse over time and that the demographic collapase might usher in an era of technological regression.
 

Belgorim

Member
But there are other solutions besides gas and nuclear... A lot of countries are putting money into renewable energy (sun/wind). Which is much cheaper than nuclear. You should have a mix of both of course, there's always a chance of 5 days of barely any sun and wind, and you're in trouble if you don't have nuclear to catch that gap. But preferably you would like most of it in renewables to lower the energy prices.
The countries putting a lot of money in renewables do not have cheap energy. It is a complete fabrication to claim that renewables lower energy prices.
They are only cheap if you consider their total production over their expected lifetime (many times exaggerated) and not factoring increased costs of power infrastructure or their dependence on storage or similar solutions.

If you build too much they also overproduce during peaks making it impossible for the more reliable production (like nuclear) to make any money. Of course this makes companies less likely to make nuclear plants if they do not get any advantages for being reliable and they also have the disadvantage of higher initial costs.

There are so many ways large scale renewables mess up energy systems.
 

Boss Mog

Member
Are you just trolling now?

Safest? How is it safer compared to wind and sun?
Cheapest? It's literally one of the most expensive energy source there is.
Cleanest? Depends on how you look at it. New power plants, sure. Old ones, with the amount of waste they generate, not so much.

It's all in the video I posted at the top of the page, I'm not gonna go through it. Except maybe price, don't remember if he talks about it. Even if the initial cost of building a nuclear plant is higher than other plants/farms, once it's built there's not much cost at all which is what makes it the cheapest energy. I lived in places without nuclear power and places with, and my power bills in the places without were 3 to 5 times higher than the places with.
 
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GreenAlien

Member
So this isn't a case of them just replacing nuclear energy with fossil fuels
Of course it is. They still have coal power plants running. They could have turned them off instead of nuclear. That would have made much more sense.
 
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CGiRanger

Banned
Whenever I hear politicians or activists say, "We Need to Get down to ZERO Fossil Fuels", I can't help but wonder just what the hell they think we'll do for all the things that fossil fuels like Oil are used for at "Zero"...
FNXPMhiXEAEPFPN
 

Helghan

Member
The countries putting a lot of money in renewables do not have cheap energy. It is a complete fabrication to claim that renewables lower energy prices.
They are only cheap if you consider their total production over their expected lifetime (many times exaggerated) and not factoring increased costs of power infrastructure or their dependence on storage or similar solutions.

If you build too much they also overproduce during peaks making it impossible for the more reliable production (like nuclear) to make any money. Of course this makes companies less likely to make nuclear plants if they do not get any advantages for being reliable and they also have the disadvantage of higher initial costs.

There are so many ways large scale renewables mess up energy systems.
There's indeed a cost for the infrastructure when working with renewables, but that cost should be distributed since a lot of that work is already being done for consumers that generate energy and put it back into the grid. In the end nuclear is still more expensive compared to renewables. To clarify, I mean building new nuclear plants. The ones we have, if they are save and can properly operate, should stay open, although there's still the discussion of nuclear waste that we are pushing on future generations.

It's all in the video I posted at the top of the page, I'm not gonna go through it. Except maybe price, don't remember if he talks about it. Even if the initial cost of building a nuclear plant is higher than other plants/farms, once it's built there's not much cost at all which is what makes it the cheapest energy. I lived in places without nuclear power and places with, and my power bills in the places without were 3 to 5 times higher than the places with.
That's the whole thing. Building a nuclear plant is crazy expensive. Just check the new plants they are building in Europe. It goes way over time and budget, which makes all of it even more expensive.
 

Boss Mog

Member
That's the whole thing. Building a nuclear plant is crazy expensive. Just check the new plants they are building in Europe. It goes way over time and budget, which makes all of it even more expensive.
I don't understand what you don't understand. The cost of energy produced is by far the cheapest, it makes up its initial costs extremely quickly. We don't build nuclear plants or any energy plants to use them for a month, they will run for decades, long term is what matters.
 

Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
Here's the thing to hammer the point why Germany's decision to abandon nuclear is borderline insane:

Border country? France
Number of nuclear reactors in France? 56

You have 56 nuclear reactors next to your own country, and you are worried about fucking Fukushima? Really?


Some time ago they gutted my street to "improve the gas network" - TF you need that in a country where the energy mix is 70% nuclear? GTFO with that Russian shit.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
I don't understand what you don't understand. The cost of energy produced is by far the cheapest, it makes up its initial costs extremely quickly. We don't build nuclear plants or any energy plants to use them for a month, they will run for decades, long term is what matters.
This. Nuclear is by far the cheapest, most ecological energy that actually scales (no, wind farms do not scale and with climate change you don't actually know if they will be reliable in the future).
 

Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
In the end nuclear is still more expensive compared to renewables. To clarify, I mean building new nuclear plants.
Nuclear power plans will run for decades. Over 83% of plants in the EU have been operating for more than 30 years:

 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Whenever I hear politicians or activists say, "We Need to Get down to ZERO Fossil Fuels", I can't help but wonder just what the hell they think we'll do for all the things that fossil fuels like Oil are used for at "Zero"...
FNXPMhiXEAEPFPN
Well does not mean that you have to burn it as a fuel, these products are mostly from fraction distillation...
 

Belgorim

Member
There's indeed a cost for the infrastructure when working with renewables, but that cost should be distributed since a lot of that work is already being done for consumers that generate energy and put it back into the grid. In the end nuclear is still more expensive compared to renewables. To clarify, I mean building new nuclear plants. The ones we have, if they are save and can properly operate, should stay open, although there's still the discussion of nuclear waste that we are pushing on future generations.


That's the whole thing. Building a nuclear plant is crazy expensive. Just check the new plants they are building in Europe. It goes way over time and budget, which makes all of it even more expensive.
Initial cost is only a barrier if you are afraid politics will not let you run the plant for a long time.

If you can run the plant for a good while, nuclear becomes cheaper than the renewables.
 
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Buggy Loop

Member
There's indeed a cost for the infrastructure when working with renewables, but that cost should be distributed since a lot of that work is already being done for consumers that generate energy and put it back into the grid. In the end nuclear is still more expensive compared to renewables. To clarify, I mean building new nuclear plants. The ones we have, if they are save and can properly operate, should stay open, although there's still the discussion of nuclear waste that we are pushing on future generations.


That's the whole thing. Building a nuclear plant is crazy expensive. Just check the new plants they are building in Europe. It goes way over time and budget, which makes all of it even more expensive.

Let’s not even factor in the costs of decommissioning eventually. It’s crazy expensive and the nuclear lobby always puts that under the carpet, but some energy companies are in deep shit because of it now. Some plants that were built for ~$40M in the 60’s now cost $608M for decommissioning.

A 560 MW plant is expected to have a bill of a billion freaking dollars to go out. It’s insane.
 

Helghan

Member
I don't understand what you don't understand. The cost of energy produced is by far the cheapest, it makes up its initial costs extremely quickly. We don't build nuclear plants or any energy plants to use them for a month, they will run for decades, long term is what matters.
I know, but I don't understand why you only look at the cost of energy produced and not to the cost to build and eventually decommission the nuclear plant. The total cost of such a project, will result in a price tag that is higher than the total cost of renewables when divided by the amount of energy produced.

Nuclear power plans will run for decades. Over 83% of plants in the EU have been operating for more than 30 years:

I know, but it's still more expensive. (source).
 

Belgorim

Member
I know, but I don't understand why you only look at the cost of energy produced and not to the cost to build and eventually decommission the nuclear plant. The total cost of such a project, will result in a price tag that is higher than the total cost of renewables when divided by the amount of energy produced.
The energy produced over a lifetime is not a good measurement.

For example solar energy in northern countries only produce electricity during the summer when the consumption is low, hence the amount produced does not help the overall system that requires a lot of power for heating during winter.
 
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RAÏSanÏa

Member
Tesla, the man, did suggest to use the form and motion of enegry the universe for energy? Nuclear power, as it is, while advanced, is hardly different from the application of firewood.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Solar power was a step in the right direction going forward you’ll use whatever resource you can.
 
The reason why we stopped building plants is due to the cost to make them. You can't overlook that fact, and it has only gotten worse. Like it or not it is a prohibitive problem for the USA.

Stop saying that it is cost competitive to run, and therefore it is fine. I always liked article like these because it actually highlights the concept, and backs it with numbers.

 
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joedan

Member
Where will small island states get their nuclear energy from? Poor third world countries? Politically unstable countries?
 

Helghan

Member
The energy produced over a lifetime is not a good measurement.

For example solar energy in northern countries only produce electricity during the summer when the consumption is low, hence the amount produced does not help the overall system that requires a lot of power for heating during winter.
Depends on which issue you are trying to solve of course. But I agree that you can't rely on solar/wind alone, and in some cases it makes more sense to use nuclear. I was merely saying that solar/wind is cheaper, so it should be a big part of your energy grid if you want to make sure that the cost of energy stays low. The country where I live, if we would decide now to build only new nuclear plants to have enough in 2050, the price would go through the roof.
 

Dr.Morris79

Member
Whenever I hear politicians or activists say, "We Need to Get down to ZERO Fossil Fuels", I can't help but wonder just what the hell they think we'll do for all the things that fossil fuels like Oil are used for at "Zero"...
FNXPMhiXEAEPFPN
Oh dont worry, they want us here in reality -->

L13RiXo.jpg


To pay them here -->

BwII80T.jpg


It's called progression.

Dont forget, we're all happy to pay higher fuel prices to stick it to Pootin too.
 
I hope nobody in here thinks the pro-nuclear position is that it should be the only option. Everything should be on the table where appropriate, nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, low-pressure geothermal using spent fracking wells, etc.

Also, take Chinese slave labor out of the equation, then tell me how cheap solar is.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Oh dont worry, they want us here in reality -->

L13RiXo.jpg


To pay them here -->

BwII80T.jpg


It's called progression.

Dont forget, we're all happy to pay higher fuel prices to stick it to Pootin too.
jUsT bUy a tEsLa - these paid parrots don't even try to hide it anymore.

 

CGiRanger

Banned
jUsT bUy a tEsLa - these paid parrots don't even try to hide it anymore.


And how are people supposed to afford these things when everything is going up in price? (and I think these numbers today don't factor the current Russia Conflict/only go up to February)

"Buy A Tesla! That'll solve everything!"

(energy prices keep going up.... since where will that energy to charge the Tesla's come from?)
 
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Wildebeest

Member
Is nuclear power driving up price inflation now? If we had built more nuclear power ten years ago than there would be less of a demand driven price rise of energy and there would be less inflation. The oil prices crashed during the pandemic, so they reduced production, and now demand has spiked back and production has not increased enough. Nuclear power would be easier to ramp up or down depending on demand.
 
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