{"id":10820,"date":"2022-04-01T13:09:10","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1383705"},"modified":"2022-04-01T13:09:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:09:10","slug":"can-nuclear-power-solve-the-energy-crisis-it-depends-who-you-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=10820","title":{"rendered":"Can nuclear power solve the energy crisis? It depends who you ask"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What\u2019s holding up the UK government\u2019s strategy for securing the country\u2019s energy supply in light of the Russia-Ukraine war and soaring market prices of oil and gas? According to The Guardian, a split between the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, over proposals for new nuclear reactors.<\/p>\n

Johnson has told industry figures that he wants nuclear power to meet 25% of the UK\u2019s energy demand by 2050, up from 16% today. That would mean roughly 30 gigawatts (GW) from a source that is currently set to shrink to 3.6GW by 2030, as all but one of the UK\u2019s eight plants are due to be decommissioned by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

Sunak is reported to be unhappy with the \u00a313 billion price tag attached to eight new nuclear reactors. But Open University\u2019s professor of energy William Nuttall argues new reactors are <\/span>worth the upfront cost<\/a> <\/span>for the part they can play on an all-renewable grid:<\/p>\n

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Large nuclear power stations have huge turbine generators spinning at high speed. These hold their speed in the face of small national fluctuations [in energy supply], providing stability to the grid. A constant base supply of nuclear power could continue to meet demand when renewable generation falters because the wind isn\u2019t blowing and the sun isn\u2019t shining.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nuclear power generation can be dialed up to cover gaps in supply from renewable sources, a job that coal and gas generators are often called upon to do now. Another low-carbon way to do this is to build batteries big enough to store the electricity generated by green sources.<\/p>\n

More bang for your buck with batteries?<\/h2>\n

While the falling costs of solar and wind energy continue to exceed expectations, nuclear construction projects remain expensive behemoths with \u201ca history of cost overruns \u2026 around the world\u201d argue MV Ramana and Xiao Wei, experts in security and energy supply at the University of British Columbia in Canada.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re researchers who have examined the economics of electricity generation in Ontario, and we\u2019ve demonstrated that as the costs of batteries decline, the cost of supplying electricity using a combination of <\/span>renewables and battery storage<\/a> <\/span>would be cheaper than using nuclear power.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bill Lee and Michael Rushton, lecturers in nuclear energy at Bangor University, are unconvinced. They argue that battery technology simply isn\u2019t advanced enough to do what reactors are already capable of doing within the vanishing window of opportunity to avert catastrophic global warming.<\/p>\n

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Even today\u2019s largest battery stores can only provide back-up electricity for a few hours, which is not always enough to cover extended periods of low wind or shorter daylight hours during winter. Battery technology is improving all the time, but it may not do so fast enough to meet rising electricity demand.<\/p>\n

Rolling out lots of electric vehicles could squeeze the supply of batteries even further, potentially even increasing their cost.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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<\/i><\/a>Scientists are still working out the kinks in grid-scale batteries. EPA\/Jens Buettner<\/a><\/span>t<\/figcaption>