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by natch 2469 days ago
It's not only about safety though. A big problem with nuclear is the centralization it entails. Big, centrally controlled power, in contrast with localizable options like solar, lends itself to heavy handed state control, big industry exploitation, corruption, and just general top-down control of consumer options. I prefer technologies like solar, which can be installed and controlled locally by the property owner themselves.

If nuclear is really needed, I would rather see it be the last resort option only in cases where renewables are not sufficient... but this conclusion about whether renewables are sufficient or not should be reached only after best efforts at renewables have been made, which is certainly not the case today.

1 comments

Renewables are still prone to centralisation. A large solar farm connected to a wide area grid is just more valuable than a lot of little schemes. And the same will be true of battery storage. If it is economic to I stall 1MW locally, it will be even more profitable to install 1GW next to a large substation.
But with solar, both options are available. I’d much rather have that flexibility without being forced to swallow a huge nuclear project or even small mini reactors infesting my area.