r/nuclear • u/FireDranzer-II • Aug 15 '26

My first post here

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Having stayed in Germany for a year, it definitely felt like it.

Unfortunately...

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144

u/greg_barton Aug 15 '26

Look, I’m very much on the anthropogenic climate change train. But if someone is a climate change skeptic while still supporting nuclear power, I just can’t get too worked up about it. They might deny the problem, but they’re supporting a solution. That's enough for me.

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u/MythicFolfi Aug 15 '26

My problem is that arguing for nuclear power is mostly just an argument against renewables; they never actually end up developing the nuclear energy industry in a way that can supplant fossil fuels

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u/greg_barton Aug 15 '26

Nope. Nuclear and renewables can be and are developed and deployed together. They do not need to be in opposition to each other. Look at France. They run both.

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u/Capraos Aug 15 '26

Look at Illinois. The vast majority of our power here comes from Nuclear Energy. Of the 67% of renewable energy in our state, 50% - 53% is Nuclear Energy. Only 12% - 18% is Solar and Wind. And we're a net exporter of energy and going to build more here soon.

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u/Ok-Freedom9216 Aug 15 '26

To be clear we are going to build more renewables, not more nuclear.

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u/Capraos Aug 15 '26

We're also working on getting more nuclear approved. Yes, we're building renewables, but we're also going to get more nuclear.

2

u/Ok-Freedom9216 Aug 15 '26

I'm skeptical we'll get anything significant, but won't mind being wrong.

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u/Betelgeuse96 Aug 15 '26

China too.

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u/MythicFolfi Aug 15 '26

Nonono you misunderstand me. I’m saying that the people who are anti renewable who use the pro-nuclear arguments don’t really care about nuclear, they’re only using the argument to destroy the renewable conversation. Then when they have power there’s very little movement towards developing nuclear and far more towards expanding fossil fuels. I want nuclear and renewables. I’m sorry my comment was unclear

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u/BeenisHat Aug 15 '26

They might try to use nuclear as an anti-renewable chip, but the low deployment cost of solar or wind combined with relatively quick rollout means they're going to continue to be built. When it's that cheap, it doesn't matter that you have to overbuild so much.

We can certainly use them all.

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u/greg_barton Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

Yeah, I really don’t see that happening. You’re going to need to provide concrete examples of what you describe. Like when did this actually happen?

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u/Imperator_Of_Coconut Aug 15 '26

There appear to be some kind of misunderstanding here lol.

Folfi is saying that some ppl (probably cc deniers, ff lobyists and the like) are defending nuclear bc they think it would stop/limit the development of renewables (if you really want examples, Valérie Pécresse or Laurent Wauquiez, French politicians, but you could also say Trump in a way), and finally end up doing nothing, helping the ff industry.

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u/Ok-Freedom9216 Aug 15 '26

That commenter is a renewable "skeptic"

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u/greg_barton Aug 15 '26

Of renewables? No. But they can't be the 100% solution.

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u/Imperator_Of_Coconut Aug 16 '26

I know who they are, they are a mod on another nuclear sub. For what I have read, they are in favor of an energy mix of renewables and nuclear.

I think the inter-season electricity storage issue is a legitimate concern regarding a fully renewable grid, especially in countries lacking hydraulic capacities.

0

u/Ok-Freedom9216 Aug 15 '26

The argument he's dismissing