This Wednesday at 6pm EST I'm going live on IG to talk with nuclear physicist Prof. Wolfgang Bauer about nuclear energy and the role it could/should play in a greener future. ⚛️🌎
What questions do you have??
#nuclear #nuclearEnergy #nuclearPhysics #carbon #physics #energy #environment
https://museum.msu.edu/?event=instagram-live-conversation-about-nuclear-futures&event_date=2022-11-30
@abbie One argument I hear a lot is that nuclear is too expensive - while the argument has also been made that excessive regulation and safety concerns cause delays and cost increases.
I know, for the most part, how a nuclear reactor is built and structured, and although it's a fascinating technical achievement, the base concept... Really isn't that technically complex, so it often made me curious where all the supposed extra costs for nuclear plants are coming from.
And aside from the pressure vessel and containment building, the steam turbines are bog standard parts that we know extremely well from other powerplants.
This factor is a bit hard to research, so I'm curious what their opinion is.
To formulate the question snappily:
"How safe are we building nuclear reactors compared to how safe we need to build them due to external pressures/excess safety concerns, and how has this impacted the cost of reactors?"
@xaseiresh We discussed this quite a bit! Check out the video on the MSU Museum's Instagram. Basically, "delays" due to public policy and time for social approval cost more money, but the social approval is also incredibly important and worth doing properly without rushing.
@xaseiresh @abbie "nuclear is expensive" is at best a half truth; initial construction costs are high (mostly due to Western regulatory tripwires), but when up and running, pretty darn cheap.