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Comment by flavius29663 | Hacker News Reader

It's not really squandered away. I am all for postponing nuclear until we can get our shit together and have proper security in place. The workers at the Fukushima plant had a lower salary than McDonalds employees. I don't want that nuclear. I want modular, mass produced, failsafe nuclear plants somewhere in the middle of the desert

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Small reactors aren't cost-effective at scale because of physics.

They also need to be near large water sources to use evaporative cooling.

ahem...Palo Verde Nuclear plant wishes to speak with you...

its only the largest nuclear plant in the country :-)

It uses treated wastewater for cooling, and due to rising costs, is seeking alternate water sources (as it requires 40k-60k gallons per minute to meet cooling needs).

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2020/02/25/palo-verde-nuclear...

I know - I also don't understand what your comment has to do with the statement nuke plants need to be near a large source of water...

I don't think that using waste water from a city an hour away would be considered "close to a large source of water".

Also, thanks for the link - it was interesting. Maybe they can get my electric bill down some more :-)

It’s continued operation is unsustainable based on water availability in the region. It’s stretching to find process water, so I wouldn’t hold it up as a success story, more as “it works for now, but we’re going to need a Plan B when it is no longer sustainable to run.” Its Arizona, so solar, storage, and transmission are fine replacements when it’s retirement is near.

I think you misread what I wrote.

>>They also need to be near large water sources to use evaporative cooling.

I don't think I did ?

Nuclear power plants require access to cooling water for efficient operation so most desert sites aren't suitable. The type of small modular nuclear power plants you're referring to can potentially be useful for supplying heat and power to isolated facilities but basic thermodynamics tell us they won't work for grid scale base load power.

Unless they're fairly near to a city in the desert.

Of course, you could argue that cities shouldn't be in deserts.

Being close to a city isn't sufficient. You still need reliable access to cooling water or else the efficiency is quite bad. Not much water in most deserts, although there are a few with rivers running through.

They use treated sewage.

>>Of course, you could argue that cities shouldn't be in deserts.

Hey Now! I resemble that comment :-P

'modular' doesn't necessarily mean 'small'.

Isn't Gates new plant all about creating standardized, modular, repeatable designs to lower costs ?

there isn't desert spread around the USA. I assume you meant middle of no-where, but often times there are farms spread out in the middle of no-where. 10-15 miles to next structure isn't "far away" for nuclear.

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