<
https://theconversation.com/dutton-wants-australia-to-join-the-nuclear-renaissance-but-this-dream-has-failed-before-209584>
"Last week, opposition leader Peter Dutton called for Australia to join what he
dubbed the “international nuclear energy renaissance”.
The same phrase was used 20 years ago to describe plans for a massive expansion
of nuclear. New Generation III plants would be safer and more efficient than
the Generation II plants built in the 1970s and 1980s. But the supposed
renaissance delivered only a trickle of new reactors – barely enough to replace
retiring plants.
If there was ever going to be a nuclear renaissance, it was then. Back then,
solar and wind were still expensive and batteries able to power cars or store
power for the grid were in their infancy.
Even if these new smaller, modular reactors can overcome the massive cost
blowouts which inevitably dog large plants, it’s too late for nuclear in
Australia. As a new report points out, nuclear would be wildly uncompetitive,
costing far more per megawatt hour (MWh) than it does to take energy from sun
or wind."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
