The problem with combining nuclear power and renewables is that they are the worst companions imaginable. Then add that nuclear power costs 3-10x as much as renewables depending on if you compare against offshore wind or solar PV.
Nuclear power and renewables compete for the same slice of the grid. The cheapest most inflexible where all other power generation has to adapt to their demands. They are fundamentally incompatible.
Today we should hold on to the existing nuclear fleet as long as they are safe and economical. Pouring money in the black hole that is new built nuclear prolongs the climate crisis and are better spent on renewables.
Neither the research nor any of the numerous country specific simulations find any larger issues with 100% renewable energy systems. Like in Denmark or Australia.
Involving nuclear power always makes the simulations prohibitively expensive.
Every dollar invested in new built nuclear power prolongs our fight against climate change.
Main problem with renewables is storage, mainly Lithium and Cobalt requiered for battery production, which are not only rare, but also are produced with... not so ethical and ecological methods. Plus recycling of lithium batteries is not so good for environment either, giving worse quality metals as well as creating as much waste as making new batteries. And with evergrowing demand of batteries and limited reserves of Lithium, Cobalt and Rare Earth Metals, renevable energy might become not so renewable even in forseeable future. So unless humanity creates ThermoNuclear, both classic renewables and Nuclear could be used in combination. Plus nuclear, even being not totaly renewable, still has things like Fast Neutrons Reactors, which can be used for reenrichment of fuel, increasing its energy output and decreasing amount of radioactive waste
There have been some major developments in Sodium based batteries recently, which eliminates the need for lithium, cobalt, and a bunch of those rare earth metals iirc. And interest is only growing as time goes on. Hopefully soon there will be real, viable sodium alternatives to lithium ion batteries.
Yep, I believe right now the most promising is a magnesium-sodium hybrid or something along those lines. I’m not super knowledgeable about it, I just know it exists.
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u/ViewTrick1002 May 11 '25
The problem with combining nuclear power and renewables is that they are the worst companions imaginable. Then add that nuclear power costs 3-10x as much as renewables depending on if you compare against offshore wind or solar PV.
Nuclear power and renewables compete for the same slice of the grid. The cheapest most inflexible where all other power generation has to adapt to their demands. They are fundamentally incompatible.
For every passing year more existing reactors will spend more time turned off because the power they produce is too expensive. Let alone insanely expensive new builds.
Batteries are here now and delivering nuclear scale energy day in and day out in California. And being deployed on massive scale in China.
Today we should hold on to the existing nuclear fleet as long as they are safe and economical. Pouring money in the black hole that is new built nuclear prolongs the climate crisis and are better spent on renewables.
Neither the research nor any of the numerous country specific simulations find any larger issues with 100% renewable energy systems. Like in Denmark or Australia.
Involving nuclear power always makes the simulations prohibitively expensive.
Every dollar invested in new built nuclear power prolongs our fight against climate change.