Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

Dev.SN ♥ developers

DOE to OK $6.5B for Georgia Nuclear Plant

posted by Dopefish on Saturday February 22 2014, @10:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the all-hail-the-almighty-atom dept.

CyberB0B39 writes: "The Department of Energy is set to approve $6.5B for a Georgia nuclear power plant, the first such plant in more than 3 decades. While other nuclear plants are shutting down due to competition from natural gas, Atlanta-based Southern Company is forging ahead with its planned construction of the plant."

[ED Note: "For those that are wondering, the new nuclear plant will be based on the AP1000 design by Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, a company based in Pittsburgh, PA and a subsidiary of Toshiba."]

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
DOE to OK $6.5B for Georgia Nuclear Plant | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 1000 moderator points   | 34 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by lgw on Sunday February 23 2014, @03:15AM

    by lgw (2836) on Sunday February 23 2014, @03:15AM (#5107)

    Well put! I think solar + batteries on ever roof is the future, but it's sadly not the present. We're nearly there - it's tantalizing - but current tech still doesn't cut it. Top-quality photoelectric panels are bottlenecked on rare materials, and price would go through the roof if demand picked up. Batteries aren't quite there yet to allow the base load capacity to actually be reduced in cities.

    We've come far enough that the idea isn't fantasy any more - it's near future SF. But it's still fiction right now, and I'm eager to see a modern nuclear plant get built and see how it compares to what advocates like myself have been claiming. In theory new plants should be very safe and much more cost effective, but they're as vulnerable as ever to corruption and shortcuts while being built.

    If we can build one in the Deep South and not have it become a boondoggle and hidden safety menace (due to low quality parts sneaking in and cash sneaking out), that will be a great sign for America.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=3, Interesting=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by evilviper on Sunday February 23 2014, @04:56AM

    by evilviper (1760) on Sunday February 23 2014, @04:56AM (#5127) Journal

    Batteries don't make much sense if you're connected to the grid. They will always have SOME losses, even if they're reduced from the current level, in addition to the up-front investment.

    Meanwhile, running wind turbines all night, cranking-up hydro off-peak, and using solar-thermal with heat storage, etc., doesn't have the chemical conversion storage losses, nor the extra inverter losses. And if you do need storage, in the event of occasional excessive supply, pumped hydro is a far better option for grid-scale applications, and is extremely cheap to add-on to any existing dams.

    --
    Do YOU see ALL home-page stories?
    dev.soylentnews.org/search.pl?tid=1
    github.com/SoylentNews/slashcode/issues/78