this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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France’s nuclear fleet gives it one of the world’s lowest-carbon electricity grids (ourworldindata.org)
submitted 1 week ago by VioletTea@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] Sniatch@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes because NPP take too long to build, what do you don't understand about that? How many nuclear reactors can we build now and will be finished fully in 50 years? How much will it cost? How expensive will be the electricity?

Yes there will be a few weeks/days during winter which will need gas plants. Do you understand that this is not anlong time during the year? Maybe 2 weeks in a year? Maybe 4 weeks? And it will be need less and less. This is really frustrating because you think we would need to fire gas 6 Months long.

NPP also don't appear out of thin air. At least PV and batterys are build very fast.

Just tell me where you read that we will have problems with lithium cobalt and all the stuff. Please. Nobody is worrying about it as much as you do.

Yes germany. Yes it would have been better to keep the old NPP running longer until we are done with coal.

BUT starting to build NOW some reactors would be the most dumbest thing we could do. It would be such a waste of money. Better to invest the money into renewable tech.

If you have some NPP running, keep them. But don't build new ones.

[–] Photonic@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

what do you don't understand about that?

Maybe the problem is not me not understanding, but you not making any sense.

How many nuclear reactors can we build now and will be finished fully in 50 years?

Like a whole lot lol.

How much will it cost?

Also a lot, but you haven’t shown any alternative that actually works. Nor are they cheap either.

How expensive will be the electricity?

About as expensive as it is in France right now.

Generation mix. France's nuclear-heavy fleet keeps wholesale costs at €30–€80/MWh. Germany's gas-coupled merit order pushes wholesale to €60–€120/MWh.

https://euenergy.live/articles/average-electricity-bill-europe

Nuclear power is much cheaper than Germany’s gas-backed renewables mix. You really don’t have a clue do you? You’re just making assumptions as they suit you best.

Yes there will be a few weeks/days during winter which will need gas plants. Do you understand that this is not anlong time during the year? Maybe 2 weeks in a year?

Ok, do the napkin math with me again, because you can’t seem to do it…

As you know, solar power will be greatly reduced in the winter. At a capacity factor of 25%, let’s say 15% of that is generated in summer, 4% in spring and fall each and 2% in winter (and the rest is no power at all, like night or overcast days). Wind has a capacity factor of 35%, let’s assume it’s similar throughout the year.

So then in the most optimistic scenario you have power for ~37% of winter, if sun shines when there is no wind and can take over (unrealistic but I’m helping you).

So at leaves us ~63% of winter. At 90 days of winter gas plants will be running for:

90 * 0,63 = 56,7 full days

In just winter….

And then we haven’t even covered spring or fall….

At least PV and batterys are build very fast.

PV cells still don’t cover winter. It’s a false equivalence.

Just tell me where you read that we will have problems with lithium cobalt and all the stuff. Please. Nobody is worrying about it as much as you do.

Did you read the part where I showed you we needed 800 entire German mines worth of lithium to get the energy equivalent of one NPP? The resources being in the ground isn’t so much the issue, the getting it out is. What’s your plan for that, magic again?

Also:

Nickel, lithium, cobalt, and graphite reserves risk 100% depletion with significant consumption of known resources. Furthermore, over 700 new critical mineral mines will need to be developed to meet the required production rates for decarbonisation by 2050. Demand for critical minerals will out-pace mine development timelines even as improvements are made to battery energy density and compositions.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42461-024-01070-7

starting to build NOW some reactors would be the most dumbest thing we could do.

The best time was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Renewables still don’t get you through winter, no matter how much you try. Your plan entails running gas plants for a significant portion of the year for decades to come while we hope for some tech that we don’t have, don’t have the resources for, can’t mine the resources for or can’t produce.

Could you please, for the love of god stop arguing in bad faith and actually try to do some of the math behind your claims?