Where We Get Our Electric
July 22nd, 2020 at 9:33:17 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 | Interesting site. MI has 3 nuke power plants. What's really interesting is that electric output peaked in 2007 and has been declining ever since because its gotten so much more efficient every year. https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-how-the-us-generates-electricity If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
July 24th, 2020 at 2:46:12 AM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
PA has 5 nuke power plants including 3-Mile Island. Nuclear GENERATION (Megawatthours) US-TOTAL 1,614,168,954 1 IL 196,203,054 2 PA 166,953,488 ---------------- 3 SC 105,432,938 4 NY 85,838,022 5 NC 84,153,898 6 TX 82,371,478 7 AL 78,925,654 8 TN 72,352,764 9 GA 68,725,352 10 NJ 63,964,212 11 AZ 62,194,518 12 MI 60,957,388 ---------------- 13 FL 58,624,698 14 VA 58,503,336 15 OH 36,630,014 16 CA 36,427,038 17 LA 34,305,164 18 CT 33,762,984 19 MD 29,975,862 20 MN 29,202,658 21 AR 25,441,636 22 MO 21,310,558 23 WI 20,258,244 24 NH 20,123,392 25 WA 19,416,882 26 KS 18,336,578 27 MS 13,838,940 28 NE 11,264,280 29 IA 9,790,798 30 MA 8,883,126 |
July 24th, 2020 at 9:08:18 AM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
When I was a kid, if the power went out in your vicinity, your power went out. It's much more localized now. I've seen the power go out 300 yards from me and mine is just fine. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
July 24th, 2020 at 3:31:26 PM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | I think it is electrical transmission costs that are high rather than generation. technology alters all things Tesla complained of its skilled workers being poached'. |
July 25th, 2020 at 4:38:13 AM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5052 | there is some kind of argument going around that if we had a big national plan and used more standardization and all the modern innovations in building new nuclear plants that this would make them quite competitive in the cost of producing electricity, whereas one of the knocks against nuclear so far has been that they have to be subsidized. This proposed project has a name I can't find yet. couldn't really find this on the page at Wikipedia, which mentions however that extending the life of nuclear plants has been quite successful, up to 80 years, and mentions 100 year possibilities I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |
July 25th, 2020 at 4:52:48 AM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 |
I read about standardization way back in the 1980s. The USA was the only nation not to have a "standard" nuclear plant design. Any other nation they had one design, presumably modular so you could have more than one reactor. But if you wanted to put one up there was no approval for design needed, you just picked the place and they approved from there. The USA was all custom. Meaning the NRC had to take years to check out the design. Even with more than one company building plants this seems very inefficient. Get one design. Use the most proven design, we built 103 of them! After it is approved say "that's it" and allow no more objections on design. Build the things! The President is a fink. |
July 25th, 2020 at 9:58:32 AM permalink | |
Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
France is the poster child having only three basic designs for their 58 plants. As a direct result of the 1973 oil crisis, they standardized. They approved a 10 year extension for all 34 of the basic design at once. That is a little less than half their generation capacity in one approval process. France produces over 70% of its electric power from nuclear, by far the highest percentage in the world/ Num*MWe = MWe / class 34*900=30,600 20*1300=26,000 4*1500=6,000 total 58 plants = 62,600 |
July 25th, 2020 at 10:12:58 AM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 | I knew an old lady 40 years ago who was a millionaire from investing in utilities. Her husband started buying stock in power companies in the 1930's and kept buying more with the profits. It snowballed and by the 80's they were worth millions. His theory was no matter the economy we always need electric. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
July 25th, 2020 at 10:37:56 AM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | Quite sensible. |
July 25th, 2020 at 10:42:24 AM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 |
I got into them a few years back, had I done so in the mid 1990s when I started working I would be better off than the ups and downs. No kidding! I called to move my IRA money and the guy on the other end said "let me look it up" then I asked the historical returns. When he gave them he had a reaction of "why has nobody here (ie: his supervisors) noticed these returns?!" The President is a fink. |