Should New Zealand invest in nuclear power plants?

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#3250071 17-Jun-2024 16:30

Dingbatt:

Wombat: Agreed New Zealand has other options, it has a very small population, why do people even want to entertain the idea in NZ?

Because they want reliable non hydrocarbon fuelled baseload capability. The only source of that we have is geothermal.

Our other renewables could just as easily be called unreliables.

Disagree. Sun is reliable, but obviously Sun in Summer is not as valuable as Winter. Wind happens all year round in an island nation. Tides happen irregardless.

Geothermal would be great. Is that where I live in ChCh, or Timaru, or Invers, or New Plymouth, or Whangarei?

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#3250073 17-Jun-2024 16:33

Rikkitic:

What about wave energy? There are currently projects underway exploring this.

Yep, waves happen all the time. Are they the best? Not sure, but like the wind, they are non seasonal, so add that to the mix.

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#3250075 17-Jun-2024 16:35

decibel:

Today, this conversation isn't worth happening, but in 10 years it will be.

My previous point is still valid - disposing of all the waste (not a physically large amount) will be be feasible in containers protected by heat shields in case of launch problems.

Nope. Not even going to explain why, as its obvious.

deepred

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#3250078 17-Jun-2024 16:41

In any case, power generation needs to shift away from the status quo of big centralised generators, towards decentralised micro-generation.

Micro-turbines haven't been mentioned much, but they do exist.

Household solar panels, while still expensive, have recently come within reach of individual households.

For the same to happen with nuclear energy, "nano-fusion" reactors would need to come to pass.

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#3250079 17-Jun-2024 16:47

Jase2985:

tdgeek:

My point was we get sun only when its up, and its less "up" when we need it in the cooler months. Wind can blow at any time, day and night. Unlike solar its gettable all year

Solar is gettable all year, just not in the same quantities, same as wind. Sometimes its windy, sometimes its not, its just not as seasonable as solar.

I get your point but its not. Sun is low in the cold season, wind happens at any time of the year. I love solar. I cant get PV here as while our house is large the roof is "intricate" I'm told. But I can manage usage to match, but my mate has solar PV and a Powrwall, in the sold seasons its LOW

Wind happens all year. What is the cost of a tunnel in the roofline with a wall turbine? A 300mm tube, a turbine, perhaps managed magnetically so no friction. Hardly world breaking and perhaps not top many kW or W but cheap and easy, it all adds up

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#3250083 17-Jun-2024 16:52

Handle9:

Wind has significant maintainence costs. It’s a rotating turbine suspended 60m in the air. It’s not easy or very cheap to maintain.

Gearboxes are still a big issue for wind turbines. To maintain one of those often requires removal which is horrendously expensive.

Fair enough, I can see that via the rotation. They seem very popular though. UK. 35000 feet above New Mexico or maybe Arizona, very visible and that was 20 years ago. NZ is windy like any island nation. Why are wind turbines common? And not bagging your post, just asking.

decibel

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#3250084 17-Jun-2024 16:56

One problem we do have in NZ is that we are running out of suitable rivers to dam.

The Whanganui river is off-limits as apparently it is a "person".

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#3251250 20-Jun-2024 17:56

The Oz Libs' nuclear energy plan will probably struggle to fly. And not necessarily because of the environmentalists.

Closer to home, the outage in the Far North right now reinforces the need for decentralised power generation.

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#3251283 20-Jun-2024 21:03

decibel:
One problem we do have in NZ is that we are running out of suitable rivers to dam.

The Whanganui river is off-limits as apparently it is a "person".

Not so much running out as just can’t get past the consenting barrier. When was the last time a large hydro plant was built?

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#3251335 20-Jun-2024 22:04

yes the technology has come a long way and its much more safer .. i say yes

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#3251338 20-Jun-2024 22:12

johno1234:
decibel:

One problem we do have in NZ is that we are running out of suitable rivers to dam.

The Whanganui river is off-limits as apparently it is a "person".

Not so much running out as just can’t get past the consenting barrier. When was the last time a large hydro plant was built?

Or possibly Think Big discrediting major public works as a fiscal sinkhole.

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#3251340 20-Jun-2024 22:39

tdgeek:

Disagree. Sun is reliable, but obviously Sun in Summer is not as valuable as Winter.

Where I live we get more rain and cloudy skies in Summer, clear skies in winter and hardly any rain, Sunlight is really not any more valuable any time of the year. Im sure there are places in NZ that are the same. (Hawke's Bay maybe?)

tweake

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#3251477 21-Jun-2024 09:40

sun, wind etc are not reliable. they are a add on to the national grid and that can cause issues because you still need enough generation to cover demand when the solar etc is not producing. also most solar requires there to be power on the grid before it can run, ie it can't run on its own. so if the main generation drops off, the solar also drops off.

there is a case for having big battery banks to help compensate for the variable nature of solar/wind/etc.

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#3251482 21-Jun-2024 09:50

tweake:

there is a case for having big battery banks to help compensate for the variable nature of solar/wind/etc.

Which was the other reason for Lake Onslow. While the unreliable renewables are generating excess power you can use it to pump water up into Onslow and/or reduce the flow of the normal hydro stations. When they are not generating enough, you use Onslow to cover the gap. And batteries are used to soak up the short-term fluctuations.

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#3251489 21-Jun-2024 09:59

SaltyNZ:

tweake:

there is a case for having big battery banks to help compensate for the variable nature of solar/wind/etc.

Which was the other reason for Lake Onslow. While the unreliable renewables are generating excess power you can use it to pump water up into Onslow and/or reduce the flow of the normal hydro stations. When they are not generating enough, you use Onslow to cover the gap. And batteries are used to soak up the short-term fluctuations.

100% this, Dams after all are like huge batteries.

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