Since I am engineer, I look at nuclear power as a clean, safe, reliable source of low-carbon baseload power. In that lens, this makes me sad. -->
The demise of US nuclear power in 4 charts theconversation.com/the-demise-of-… via @ConversationUS
The demise of US nuclear power in 4 charts theconversation.com/the-demise-of-… via @ConversationUS
But, lawyers look at nuclear as a liability waiting to happen. /1
And, natural gas, wind and solar plants look at nuclear as a competitor./2
Some environmentalists look at nuclear as a source of low-carbon energy, avoiding long-lived carbon waste that we inject into the atmosphere./3
Other environmentalists look at nuclear as a source of long-lived radioactive solid waste we inject into the earth's crust./4
Some national security observers worry that nuclear power enables weapons proliferation because it creates the people and materials that can be weaponized.5
Other national security observers worry that if we do not have an active nuclear power fleet in the United States, then weapons proliferation will worsen because we won't have the trained experts to serve as inspectors for rogue programs abroad. /6
People worried about money look at nuclear as an expensive source of power because of its high CAPEX costs./7
People worried about money look at nuclear as an affordable option because of its low and predictable operating costs./8
Grid reliability experts like nuclear because it has high capacity factor and is hardened such that it can work even through a hurricane. /9
Grid reliability experts worry about nuclear because it is prone to shutdowns during heat waves b/c the cooling water isn't sufficiently available./10
In total, all these tensions are why nuclear struggles. In the end, nuclear is complicated. It's just easier to build natural gas combined cycles power plants along with wind and solar. Ultimately, we like to do the easy things first. /END
I should have said unroll @threadreaderapp
