I'm waiting for this... (solar power system)

[matthew1]

Taking my Nevada example, we could power Las Vegas and all of California from Nevada (or even from desert California of which there is plenty), and not have to run thousands of miles of transmission to say NYC. Washington state, and I suspect Oregon also, run mostly on hydroelectric, so no worries there. My electricity bill when I lived in Seattle was trivial. The requirements go down and we've taken care of the whole West Coast. One step at a time.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time

[Sveedy]

Is "safe nuclear" kind of like "clean coal" ?

I agree that solar and other renewables should be able to provide all the necessary power for the country. I've been leaning into the idea of each community having its own independent solar farms, which are only connected to each other in case of an emergency. No main grid (or utility corp) controlling 100's of thousands of peoples electricity.

[matthew1]

Is "safe nuclear" kind of like "clean coal" ?

I asked an AI "US nuclear energy sector fatalities since 1950" and it tells us:

The only fatal reactor accident in U.S. history occurred on January 3, 1961, at the SL-1 experimental power plant in Idaho, resulting in three operator deaths from a steam explosion.

Other fatalities in the nuclear industry have resulted from conventional industrial accidents, such as electrocution, falls, or steam burns. Notable examples include incidents at the Quad Cities (1971), Surry (1972, 1986), Donald C. Cook (1976), Byron (1978), River Bend (1985), and Crystal River (1986) plants.

Incidents prior to 1950 but related to nuclear weapons research also resulted in fatalities, such as the deaths of Harry Daghlian (1945) and Louis Slotin (1946) from radiation poisoning at Los Alamos.

The Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the most serious U.S. commercial nuclear power incident, resulted in no direct deaths or injuries.

[Sveedy]

Photovoltaic paint.
Power generation doesn't seem to be as much of a problem anymore as storage is.

[abscate]

Is "safe nuclear" kind of like "clean coal" ?

I asked an AI "US nuclear energy sector fatalities since 1950" and it tells us:

The only fatal reactor accident in U.S. history occurred on January 3, 1961, at the SL-1 experimental power plant in Idaho, resulting in three operator deaths from a steam explosion.

Other fatalities in the nuclear industry have resulted from conventional industrial accidents, such as electrocution, falls, or steam burns. Notable examples include incidents at the Quad Cities (1971), Surry (1972, 1986), Donald C. Cook (1976), Byron (1978), River Bend (1985), and Crystal River (1986) plants.

Incidents prior to 1950 but related to nuclear weapons research also resulted in fatalities, such as the deaths of Harry Daghlian (1945) and Louis Slotin (1946) from radiation poisoning at Los Alamos.

The Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the most serious U.S. commercial nuclear power incident, resulted in no direct deaths or injuries.

Deaths in Japan are omitted from these stats.

[volvolugnut]

I have concerns that ALL deaths are getting reported by that search. Most deaths would be slow and offsite from the plants. When Hoover dam was built, the construction management claimed only a couple men died. Deeper reports found several dozen died at hospitals or offsite.
volvolugnut

[matthew1]

To be fair, we should count all solar/wind/hydro/natgas/coal/oil production and maintenance deaths. I think that number is going to be 3 or 4 digits, since 1950. Even if we adjust for nuclear's % of energy it's still a large disparity. Now imagine what the safety disparity would be with 2020s reactor designs vs. 1960s designs.

France is powered by 65-70% nuclear energy and has been for decades. The whole country. I don't hear any noise about it.

Everyone remembers Chernobyl, but nobody remembers Bhopal (1984, not energy related), and Bhopal was a roughly 320x higher death count. They were two years apart. I haven't heard the word "Bhopal" for a decade or so, but I hear "Chernobyl" every few weeks.

Media loves to sensationalize, it's how they bring home a paycheck. Nuclear is about as scary as stories come, and does the trick.

[abscate]

France’s system works because of that dirty socialism word… the technology is standardized so each reactor is data on failures amd lifetime applicable nationwide. Our system is profit based so we lose the aggregate data advantage.

Power too cheap to meter was the claim.

Until the US government lifts the cap on liability and makes the nuclear power industry pay free market rates for liability, its crony capitalism. At market rates for liability , nuclear power is unaffordable.

Here is a fan though!

[volvolugnut]

When and where did this ad run? Font looks like 1970's.
volvolugnut

[BlackBart]

The brutal Shah, who the British helped put into place, who had custom-made Ferraris, whose son the “crown prince” has suddenly appeared “volunteering” to save “his” country.

There, I’m done.