Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors getting closer to reality.

It's a controversial topic for sure but nuclear power is already generating much of the worlds power and the technology is getting safer, I'm a bit on the fence but it seems clear to me that we must do everything we can to get away from fossil fuels.

QuoteThe government wants to build 16 Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in the next 25 years to secure the UK's energy supply.

Six sites shortlisted for nuclear reactor factory

Nuclear is not the best alternative as I see things.

While I realize that fossil fuels might not be in the best interest of the carbon footprints and environment studies, etc. without them, we wouldn't be here typing these comments.

Solar, Wind, and Hydro offer great possibilities but better and longer-term storage of electricity are needed. Perhaps the Compressed Hydrogen storage fuel cells might be a better option.

In larger countries, the Infrastructure has a difficult time with brown-outs and power failures especially during peak demand of hot summers when everyone is running their air conditioners. Can you imagine what would happen if just 20% of our population in the US would attempt to charge their electric vehicles at or near the same time? The blackout would be massive and even at 10% the results would be similar.

Most people I've spoken with have those two same concerns, and rightly so...Range and charge times.

When I worked, there were many days that I was required to drive for 3 hours to a job, take care of some business there for maybe an hour then drive to another job site 1-1/2 hours, business, then drive another 1-1/2 to 2 hours on the way home. If I could find a charger near my job site and it could charge to a suitable level in a half hour, and so on... Lot's of IFs...

Things rapidly need to improve and I hope they do, particularly with charge times and trip ranges.
Mainly, a dependable infrastructure to handle the demands of an electric system of travel.

Maybe Ion propulsion? Dilithium Crystals?...Anti-matter?...what?

Perhaps one day...

Let's not forget that the world uses vast amounts of electricity to refine oil and pump it around.

So much power would be freed up for other things if we just did things another way.

I know that many people are still sceptical about EV's and many others soon change their minds once they go electric, the UK's national grid does have a plan for electric car charging as more people switch, some clever people are on the case.

As for charging - I just charged my Leaf on a rapid charger when shopping, came out the shop and had added 140 miles range in about 30 mins, really no big deal and no wasted time at a fuel station.

For us here in the UK these Small Modular Reactors are to replace our reliance on gas, it could do it too but should we? We need something to fill the gap until we have enough renewable energy, more huge windfarms are in the pipeline along with solar farms and storage systems.

Will be interesting to see how this dose pan-out, remember once we get rid of oil refinement so much electricity will be made available that things might look a whole lot easier.

The trouble is that disposal of nuclear waste is already a problem.

One story I found: https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/nuclear-waste-pilesscientists-seek-best/98/i12

Quote from: Freddy on July 05, 2022, 17:47:25 PM
The trouble is that disposal of nuclear waste is already a problem.

One story I found: https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/nuclear-waste-pilesscientists-seek-best/98/i12

Yes absolutely the Achilles' heel of nuclear.

Fossil fuels is pollution and environmental damage.

Renewables seems to be storage, which is fixable.

OK maybe over simplified but ....

Yes, considering that the use of coal and the like has done so much damage to the environment, it would be reckless to move ahead with nuclear without satisfactory storage at the very least.

But what is satisfactory and what about the long term? If we move to nuclear should we just keep putting the stuff in the ground forever? Nah, it's got to be wind farms, solar energy etc for me and better energy storage to go with it.

Or we just think to heck with the people of the future. 

Don't forget about the vast natural resource that is available in many regions...Water!

Hydroelectric generators are very efficient and environmentally friendly for the most part.

We have a few dams near me and they do an amazing job.

Hydroelectric power at 15.9% of renewable electricity, is more than 2.69 times greater than wind power and more than 5.67 times greater than Solar power.

The wind turbine blades only have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years and then need to be put into landfills or burned using an expensive furnace. The blades are usually made from resin and fiberglass or carbon fiber which is very expensive. Their installations use relatively small footprints but it takes many of these towers to contribute to reasonable power usage for large areas. There is also a considerable environmental impact on the land by digging huge trenches to reach the substations and power distribution stations. Many environmentalists are also concerned about birds and bats running into the spinning blades but I really have to wonder how much of these concerns are real since birds have excellent vision and bats have echo-location radar to avoid obstacles. Might be someone crying "wolf".

I personally detest the look of them blocking the once beautiful mountains and scenic views. The price to pay some say...Perhaps so...

Either way, there is no one end-all solution to our energy needs and it will only progress each year.

(odd but yesterday, I saw a blurb on TV stating that burying the dead is bad for the earth!).
Can you dig it?! Oops!!

In the UK wind power is easily the biggest generator of renewable energy to date, on a good day it's making around 40% of our total power requirements, over a year the number drops to around 25%.

New massive off-shore windfarms are in the pipeline, the numbers are going to increase considerably.

Quote from: Art on July 09, 2022, 15:38:13 PM
The wind turbine blades only have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years and then need to be put into landfills or burned using an expensive furnace.

There are numerous projects around the world working on recycling the blades.
Yes there are challenges but where there's a will....

Wind Turbine Blades Don't Have To End Up In Landfills


There has been quite a bit of talk recently about using tidal energy for generation, it deserves it's own topic but the potential is huge and reliable.