I have a slight understanding of both nuclear (FIL was a 50 year nuclear boiler designer with B&W/Areva/Framatome) and residential solar (husband and I designed and installed residential solar and geothermal for custom home clients).
I have been part of a group in VA attempting to stop any utility scale solar projects that are attempting to use productive farmland and forests. In my county we have recently stopped 3. One got through the process in 2018, before many became more educated in the drawbacks.
While you report is great, I'd love to share it with others but fear they may get lost on the technical. I know it was hard for me at times. Many don't have even my small amount of knowledge.
Is there any way you can do a short summary that I can attach to this (so they have the real data) but can quickly see the meaning of the article and hopefully dig deeper into it. Most of us lack your obvious depth of understanding of this issue and could use a little help.
Thanks again. I'm glad I saw your link on Robery Bryce's Stack. This is why I love Substack.
Thanks for the comment. Your feedback is helpful. I am really struggling with writing shorter, more readable posts vs writing ones that solidly prove my point. Unfortunately, there is no way to make my argument bullet proof without a minimum amount of numbers. I’ll think about what you said, but currently I am working on some new ideas that are occupying my time.
Sounds like you are doing great work protecting our forests and rural areas. I love rural areas; it breaks my heart to see what will happen to them. I think we really need to push for nuclear power so that we can show we have a better alternative. Thanks.
Looks like you put a fair amount of work and thought into this article.
Good job 👍.
We should always look back at 101 teachings IMHO.
The Second Law teaches that all practical processes are irreversible and that we can only be more efficient. Further, any order that we create by doing work creates more disorder elsewhere.
Considering this, one can conclude that solar and wind are non- starters, especially in terms of real 15 year lifetimes and disposal.
I think my wording may have given the wrong impression about how it works. Construction of Vogtle 3 began in March 2013, Vogtle 4 started construction in November 2013. Vogtle 4 began operation less than a year after Vogtle 3. Vogtle 3 is considered the first of a kind version, Vogtle 4 is a second of a kind. The cost of Vogtle 4 was 30% lower than Vogtle 3. The paper I reference goes into more detail. The DOE references the same paper in their nuclear liftoff document. The next unit is predicted to be cheaper than offshore wind, even before adding batteries. Learning at various stages can be transferred long before the build is finished. The AP1000 is modular so the module factories can perfect their tasks independently. The nuclear renaissance can begin long before we get to the nth of a kind.
This is really good information.
I have a slight understanding of both nuclear (FIL was a 50 year nuclear boiler designer with B&W/Areva/Framatome) and residential solar (husband and I designed and installed residential solar and geothermal for custom home clients).
I have been part of a group in VA attempting to stop any utility scale solar projects that are attempting to use productive farmland and forests. In my county we have recently stopped 3. One got through the process in 2018, before many became more educated in the drawbacks.
While you report is great, I'd love to share it with others but fear they may get lost on the technical. I know it was hard for me at times. Many don't have even my small amount of knowledge.
Is there any way you can do a short summary that I can attach to this (so they have the real data) but can quickly see the meaning of the article and hopefully dig deeper into it. Most of us lack your obvious depth of understanding of this issue and could use a little help.
Thanks again. I'm glad I saw your link on Robery Bryce's Stack. This is why I love Substack.
Thanks for the comment. Your feedback is helpful. I am really struggling with writing shorter, more readable posts vs writing ones that solidly prove my point. Unfortunately, there is no way to make my argument bullet proof without a minimum amount of numbers. I’ll think about what you said, but currently I am working on some new ideas that are occupying my time.
Sounds like you are doing great work protecting our forests and rural areas. I love rural areas; it breaks my heart to see what will happen to them. I think we really need to push for nuclear power so that we can show we have a better alternative. Thanks.
Looks like you put a fair amount of work and thought into this article.
Good job 👍.
We should always look back at 101 teachings IMHO.
The Second Law teaches that all practical processes are irreversible and that we can only be more efficient. Further, any order that we create by doing work creates more disorder elsewhere.
Considering this, one can conclude that solar and wind are non- starters, especially in terms of real 15 year lifetimes and disposal.
Thanks for this thoughtful look at the exponential costs of high penetration intermittent energy.
One beef is your using the nth (10th) iteration of AP1000 nuclear power. Lets say that build times drop to 6 years.
That's 60 years.
I think my wording may have given the wrong impression about how it works. Construction of Vogtle 3 began in March 2013, Vogtle 4 started construction in November 2013. Vogtle 4 began operation less than a year after Vogtle 3. Vogtle 3 is considered the first of a kind version, Vogtle 4 is a second of a kind. The cost of Vogtle 4 was 30% lower than Vogtle 3. The paper I reference goes into more detail. The DOE references the same paper in their nuclear liftoff document. The next unit is predicted to be cheaper than offshore wind, even before adding batteries. Learning at various stages can be transferred long before the build is finished. The AP1000 is modular so the module factories can perfect their tasks independently. The nuclear renaissance can begin long before we get to the nth of a kind.
I was nit-picking. My point is that iterations take time, lots of time.