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submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Bill Gates-backed nuclear contender Terra Power aims to build dozens of UK reactors::A Bill Gates-backed clean energy player is hoping to build dozens of nuclear reactors in the UK and will compete with global rivals.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago

On the one hand, I think that's great. We need more nuclear power to mitigate the climate disaster.

On the other hand, I don't trust anything Bill Gates does after he totally fucked up the U.S. education system.

[-] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 13 points 1 year ago

No matter how you think about nuclear power in general, it will not be of any substantial help against climate change.

It's expensive and takes forever to build. Even the optimistic projections of the vendors are well above what wind and solar deliver right now.

Nuclear power is just a tech bro pipe dream. Nobody needs it. It's just prestige.

[-] TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

The goal of several of these new companies is to build small modular plants that are cookie cutter instead of individual boutique designs. That should bring cost down substantially.

[-] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

It’s the opposite. Nuclear plants were built as large as possible because that was the only way that made any kind of financial sense. SMRs are a waste of money.

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 9 points 1 year ago

It might have been why in the past, but the issues right now with building new plants is getting a design through production that can survive the review process. Costs come down on the second plant because you have a design you can clone rather than developing it from scratch.

There are already several uses by several countries in using miniature nuclear power plants. This is just an attempt to make it more available to everyone.

[-] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Nuclear has never been competitive in terms of cost against the alternatives, first coal and gas, now renewables. In fact, nuclear is only getting more expensive. I really don't understand why you want to pay more for power than is necessary. I don't.

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[-] agressivelyPassive@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

Well, then show me any viable concept. Just one. Not an "experimental protoype". An actual concept, that is even roughly comparable in cost to currently deployed systems.

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[-] dag__@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

I'm sorry don't you think Bush, among many others, had something to do with that as well? There are more oligarchs than just Gates. The leaders of Big Tech are so far up their own ass you don't even realize you've followed them in there.

[-] gelberhut@lemdro.id 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What BG did with the US education system?

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago

So travelling wave is out and SMRs are in? Right. What both have in common is that they're just pipe dreams. Nuclear power never was and never will be economically viable. If we could all just accept that we could get on with real solutions.

[-] Zron@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

The energy density of nuclear fuels is unparalleled.

Modern reactor designs are extremely safe and stable, the only downside is the cost.

The cost is so high because they are basically boutique projects. Having a standardized design with mass produced components would go a long way to making nuclear reactors more affordable.

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago

And just why do you think that never happened? The Soviets tried that. And how did that go? The Japanese tried to use American designs without adapting them to local conditions and that's how we got Fukushima. A nuclear reactor is simply too complex to be built in an assembly line. And all the promises of "small modular reactors" have been nothing but pipe dreams so far. I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm saying it won't happen any time soon. Anyone who touts nuclear power as a solution to climate change is either delusional or not arguing in good faith.

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[-] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

We've had 70 years to figure out how to produce cost-competitive nuclear energy. It's time to move on.

[-] Laser_Frog@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 year ago

And electric cars have had over 100 years, so should we have given up on them? Your argument is flawed.

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[-] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 12 points 1 year ago

We did produce cost competitive nuclear. When France went through it’s oil crisis recovery shift to nuclear, they built them every single year for a decade, going from a couple to 40+ in the span of a decade.

We’ve just stopped. So then of course the institutional knowledge disappears.

[-] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

That's fair. I'm not anti-nuclear on principle. If we had gone all-in 30 years ago it would've made some sense. To build new nuclear now though is a waste of money.

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[-] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 year ago

what timeline are we in that bill gates is not the worst guy

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[-] Antimutt@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

I'd cheer if it was Thorium. Uranium is only going to get more expensive. And I worry Bill is only after the tech that goes into UK submarines powered by these small RR reactors.

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 12 points 1 year ago

Thorium is nowhere even close to being a viable technology. Even at the most optimistic estimates (that are somewhat based in reality) it'll be multiple decades until this stuff can make an impact. We don't have that kind of time.

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[-] RobotToaster@infosec.pub 8 points 1 year ago

Lets hope they don't run windows.

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this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023
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