[fraboniface]

I don't really understand this argument. How are dozens of nuclear power plants a single point of failure? Because of the uranium mining and processing? Then we can invest in fast reactors, which consume 100x less and require less R&D than renewables have benefited from in the last decades. Or seawater uranium, another 100x in reserves, distributed all around the world.

[ceejayoz]

> How are dozens of nuclear power plants a single point of failure?

https://www.wired.com/story/nuclear-power-plants-struggling-...

"Amidst a slow-burning heat wave that has killed hundreds and sparked intense wildfires across Western Europe, and combined with already low water levels due to drought, the Rhône’s water has gotten too hot for the job. It’s no longer possible to cool reactors without expelling water downstream that’s so hot as to extinguish aquatic life. So a few weeks ago, Électricité de France (EDF) began powering down some reactors along the Rhône and a second major river in the south, the Garonne. That’s by now a familiar story: Similar shutdowns due to drought and heat occurred in 2018 and 2019. This summer’s cuts, combined with malfunctions and maintenance on other reactors, have helped reduce France’s nuclear power output by nearly 50 percent."

France is about the best existing case for nuclear, incidentally.

[Manuel_D]

The issue outlined above is a problem for all thermal plants. Coal and gas plants would suffer from the same issue.

Furthermore, nuclear plants don't need to be cooled with potable water. They can be cooled with ocean water, or with waste water. In fact, seawater cooling is the most popular form of cooling. Only 15% of nuclear plants are cooled with river water.

https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-fu....

[oakwhiz]

It's possible to use "dry cooling" for a nuclear reactor. [1][2] The thermodynamic efficiency would be much lower, but it is possible to use alternative thermodynamic cycles/methods, for example reactors sent into space have used radiative cooling since there is no realistic way to use fluids to finally reject the heat.

1. http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2018/ph241/duboc2/

2. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-fu...

[panick21_]

Air-cooling is possible. This only effect certain type of reactor. As soon as you go to higher temp reactor air-cooling is very efficient.

And even in France this was only a problem because of their terrible delayed maintenance.

> France is about the best existing case for nuclear, incidentally.

No it isn't. France has done essentially nothing for 30+ years. Has done little maintained, their reactors aren't up to date.

The generation after the generation that built the reactor has always resented the system and wanted to rip it out. They literally decided to retire it by 2035 despite having no plan to replace it.

[kjkjadksj]

Thats one of the shortcomings of using a river with variable flow over an ocean or large lake

[robryan]

The problem is more our lack of ability to build them quickly and in a cost effective way. An investment in solar will much more reliably and quickly turn into a certain amount of power generation.

Hopefully this changes once every nuclear project isn't some complex bespoke thing that is likely to be late and over budget.

[panick21_]

And yet UAE a country without any technical knowlage built them in a cost effective way and quickly.

In fact, any country that has built them in mass figured out how to do it cost effective and quickly.

The reality is, its only not cost effective and quick when a country only builds a single reactor as a vanity project to keep the industry alive.

No country that seriously tried to quickly increase production with nuclear has failed.

[threeseed]

And who is going to pay for all of this R&D and investment.

The market doesn't want it, banks don't want to finance it, researchers aren't interested and startups can't afford to.

You can't fight against market dynamics when you're talking about capital expenditure this high.

[fraboniface]

This has indeed been a big blocker, but the article is proof that the market now wants it. And there are plenty of new nuclear startups, as well as interested researchers. What was lacking so far was a real need energy-wise (in the absence of a high carbon tax) and regulatory stability/transparency.

Edit: also, sodium fast reactors have existed for 20 years. The R&D has mostly already been done for that tech. But the lack of projects make it stuck to TRL 8.