Antinuclear

Eric Peters, 14 Oct 19, “…………According to a very interesting analysis by professor Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado published recently by Forbes, [to reach zero carbon emissions] it would entail putting at least one new nuclear reactor online every week until 2030 or 2050 (the number of new reactors needed to get to “net zero” carbon-dioxide emissions depending on how soon we want to get there). Leaving aside the regulatory hurdles involved in permitting a single new plant — and the money that would be have to be found to finance the construction of scores of new plants.

Pielke is a mathematician who has done the math, and the numbers are daunting. ……

In his Forbes article, Pielke explains that one nuclear power plant like the Turkey Point reactor complex in Homestead, Florida, generates the equivalent of about 1 million metric tons (1 mteo) of fossil-fueled energy each year. That’s a lot of juice but it hardly puts a dent in the problem………..

This will mean a lot more mteos and reactors (or some other carbon-neutral way) to produce them.

“To achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, the world would need to deploy three Turkey Point nuclear plants’ worth of carbon-free energy every two days, starting tomorrow and continuing to 2050,” Pielke writes.

“And at the same time,” he adds, the fossil-fueled equivalent of one Turkey Point plant would have to be “decommissioned every day, starting tomorrow and continuing to 2050.”

This isn’t just a tall order. It’s an impossible one…….   https://www.nwitimes.com/opinion/columnists/guest-commentary/guest-commentary-two-nuclear-power-plants-a-week/article_a206346c-d2f9-55d7-b935-6782b4001cd5.html