Comment on Nuclear energy remains weapon of choice for climate deniers and coal lobby

• zurohki@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Building nuclear in the 80s or 90s might have been a good idea, but a nuclear plant that gets started today in Australia is going to be up and running in 2038, and there’s no way it could compete with 2038’s solar and battery technology.

  If you have nuclear plants, sure, keep running them. But it doesn’t make sense to build new ones any more.

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  • Nonameuser678@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    It could end up being a situation where wind and solar are needed for the transition to nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission at this point is not worth the cost it would take to set up. And by the time we set it up in Australia, the rest of the world is transitioning to fusion.

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    • zurohki@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Is nuclear fusion going to be cheaper than fission, though? Once we’re on solar and batteries, I can’t see us needing to move off of them onto something else. And I can’t see anything beating solar+battery on price.

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      • spiffmeister@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Cost is often factored in when it comes to optimising fusion power plant design so potentially, plus other benefits of fusion. Either way, barring a breakthrough the closest power barring breakthroughs is probably at best 2040 imo. Even with all the new startups.

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      • Nonameuser678@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Potentially if scientists can find a way to generate the heat and pressure that’s needed more efficiently. It has the potential to be more efficient (and assumedly cheaper) than any other energy source. But that’s likely still a while away. We definitely need to be investing in this type of research and development rather than building nuclear fission plants though.

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