[cm2187]

That was true in the 70s. I think anything built in europe since the 80s can do load following and France does that every day. I think by regulation new plants must be able to adapt their production by something like 5% per 10min (or something of that order of magnitude), well within the range you need to meet intra day variations.

Now whether it is optimal economically is another question. If you have some sources of energy in your grid that cost per usage (eg fossil fuels), you should rather switch those off than nuclear which costs the same whether you use it or not. But if your grid is almost all nuclear (eg France), you do load following.

[eric-hu]

That’s news to me. How do these newer reactors do it? I thought nuclear reactors are slow to ramp up. Are they over producing thermal energy relative to the plants electricity output?

[cm2187]

that would be a question for someone closer to the tech than me, but relevant wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load-following_power_plant#Nuc...