Had They Invested in Nuclear Energy...

[Ben]

Interesting story using California and Germany as examples regarding throwing money into nuclear instead of alternative energy. Had they done so, they would have been way ahead on green energy (which nuclear is) at much less cost. Germany would actually be carbon neutral right now. It appears to have been written by an enviro, so doubly interesting. Note that it's Forbes, so you'll need to view it with your ad blocker off, but I think it's worth the extra step:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/09/11/had-they-bet-on-nuclear-not-renewables-germany-california-would-already-have-100-clean-power/#3bd8a9e7e0d4

The article at Environmental Progress allows ad blockers:

http://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2018/9/11/california-and-germany-decarbonization-with-alternative-energy-investments

[dogmush]

Lack of support for increased nuclear power is one of my litmus tests for weather someone actually cares about the environment, or is a virtue signalling Socialist.

[Scout26]

Germany used to have quite a few nukes, then Fukushima and the Greens simply soiled themselves....Like there was going to be a Tsunami in Bavaria.

[just Warren]

Bavarian Tsunami was my wrestling name when I was a foreign exchange student in Cameroon.



And why can't we get to the point of using uranium at the consumer level? Just one bb sized pellet could power a car forever, right?

[RoadKingLarry]

why can't we get to the point of using uranium at the consumer level?

Too many stupid *expletive deleted*ers would be huffing  or snorting it.

[Hawkmoon]

Germany used to have quite a few nukes, then Fukushima and the Greens simply soiled themselves....Like there going to be a Tsunami in Bavaria.

Or a Chernobyl?

[Scout26]

Or a Chernobyl?

Bad Russian reactor design and then running a stupidly unsafe experiment....

[Jamisjockey]

Considering the Germans penchant for over-engineering things, I'd imagine their reactors would withstand the 4 horsemen.

[Pb]

Yes.  I think replacing our coal power generation with nukes would be a good idea.  Coal power particulate emission supposedly kills a lot of people every year.  Instead, we get people who think windmills and solar can power the whole country.

[brimic]

Considering the Germans penchant for over-engineering things, I'd imagine their reactors would withstand the 4 horsemen.

Of course, a failing of something like the motor that opens and closes the shades in the conference room will cause the reactor to shut down... costing more to repair than the reactor is worth.

[Scout26]

Of course, a failing of something like the motor that opens and closes the shades in the conference room will cause the reactor to shut down... costing more to repair than the reactor is worth.

I miss my Rolladen.  I wish I could get them over here.

[Ron]

The big plants seem to be hard to manage during failures, Fukashima, Chernobyl...

I’ve read where there are folks in the industry recommending smaller more widely dispersed plants that could be built to eventually supplant coal plants.

They would also have the benefit of being easier to manage in the event of catastrophic failure.

Not sure how realistic it is having a small power plant for every community or how much safer it is than having a large plant that has the potential to turn into a nuclear wasteland.