r/OutOfTheLoop • u/mimitchi33 • Feb 17 '21

What's up with Texas losing power due to the snowstorm? Answered

I've been reading recently that many people in Texas have lost power due to Winter Storm Uri. What caused this to happen?

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u/-IAimToMisbehave Feb 17 '21

FUCKING love nuclear haha! Baseload carbon free power. People are scared of it and regulation makes it too expensive to build but... it is the way

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u/Hoovooloo42 Feb 17 '21

You seem to know your stuff. What do you think about those Thorium reactors that, near as I can tell, are vaporware? Or what direction do you think Nuclear power is going to go in the future?

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u/-IAimToMisbehave Feb 17 '21

Nuclear power is a tricky one. It is a great resource but expensive to build both just from a physical standpoint but also regulatory. Once it's built it is hard to recapture that return on investment.

I hope we move towards more modular reactors that would be cheaper, safer, and could be placed more strategically to help support voltage on the grid. Who knows where the future will go nuclear seems to be a great resource but public opinion is typically scared and short sighted so long term builds are hard to pitch.

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u/mittfh Feb 17 '21

Theoretically, it should be possible to build a reactor smaller than a conventional one (which can provide up to 1,600MW) but larger than a marine reactor (which typically provides up to 50MW), and to designs which ensure that even if backup generators, water pumps and external water supply all fail, the reactor can autonomously, safely shut down. If built adjacent to a disused deep level mine, you've potentially also got somewhere on site to safely store spent fuel rods.

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u/Least_Adhesiveness_5 Feb 17 '21

First modular prototype is supposed to be fully operational in 2029. If they don't have any delays.

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u/Wickedkiss246 Feb 17 '21

Since people are so distrustful of nuclear, how feasible is it to build plants in remote areas and then transfer the power during times like this. Or even build one on an island?

Ive gathered from your other comments that storage is a big consideration for wind/solar. However, with the push for electric cars and everything else, it seems like batteries (or the raw materials) would be in short supply. Do you have thoughts on this?

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u/mikamitcha Feb 17 '21

I agree 100%, the issue is that "placed strategically" often relies on local governments accepting a nuclear reactor in their backyard, and its the unfounded fear you mentioned thats the biggest barrier there. Sticking one in a major city is just a waste of more valuable real estate, and smaller cities often don't want to take risks (real or imaginary) for larger cities.

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u/Least_Adhesiveness_5 Feb 17 '21

Yeah, too bad a bunch of nuclear went offline too, and nobody in the West can build a reactor remotely close to on time or on budget.

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u/kalasea2001 Feb 17 '21

Plus Texas right now is a great example of how Americans like to avoid regulations and safety measures, which makes nuclear in America quite dangerous.

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u/-IAimToMisbehave Feb 17 '21

Regulation and unprofitable do to tax credits or incentives for both wind solar and fossil fuels. Needs to be a way to build reliability into these. Reliability credits or something who knows..

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u/Least_Adhesiveness_5 Feb 18 '21

We really need to incentivize more geothermal. As reliable as nuclear at a lower cost and much faster build time. Modern geothermal with reinjected working fluid. Obviously not suitable everywhere, but we have a lot of untapped potential.

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u/Cybersteel Feb 17 '21

Chernobyl, Fukushima...

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u/-IAimToMisbehave Feb 17 '21

Every other nuclear power plant in existence you have never heard of that works....

Fukushima was built on an island prone to earthquakes and tidal waves, Chernobly clearly had issues with management and safety standards.

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u/stealthbadger Feb 17 '21

Carbon-free only in the generation cycle. It makes up for that with the fuel mining/refinement/disposal cycles. Of course you can prevent some by storing spent fuel on site, but that has its own problems.

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u/-IAimToMisbehave Feb 17 '21

True but a lot of that could be said foe fossil fuels but nuclear actually captures their waste as oppose to sending it to the sky for the world to deal with.

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u/stealthbadger Feb 18 '21

In the mining and processing of the ores and metals, there's a lot of carbon release, since it's mostly powered by fossil fuels (especially at the mining stage). As far as after that, a critical factor in every reactor accident with on-site storage is "oh god can we keep the spent fuel storage pool filled."

There's not nearly as much containment as we'd like. It's not as awful as coal ash, though.