Should New Zealand invest in nuclear power plants?

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#3228696 10-May-2024 12:35

No Nuclear power plant near where I live thanks. I’m sure there will be a lot of people with same view in all areas.

I feel very uncomfortable with the thought of it, what if something goes wrong…no matter of saying how safe it is would make that uncomfortable feeling go away.

I have no problem with 5G or Vaccines for ones that try to stereo type a person on a singular view.

I don’t think the nuclear materials in hospitals would cause the same damage as a power plant if something goes wrong.

Jase2985

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#3228698 10-May-2024 12:36

johno1234:

Plus Onslow is in the wrong place to deal with the shortage in the North Island.

On the other had, nukes look a bit too expensive for the time being...

That quote was for 2 full scale nuclear reactors, they do make Small Modular Reactors which can generate up to 300MW each which would be cheaper and easier to distribute around the place. They can also be inherently safer.

freitasm

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#3228702 10-May-2024 12:38

@rugrat:

I don’t think the nuclear materials in hospitals would cause the same damage as a power plant if something goes wrong.

Think again...

Goiânia accident - Wikipedia

Goiania radiological accident - Causes and consequences (nuclear-energy.net)

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BlargHonk

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#3228704 10-May-2024 12:41

Jase2985:

johno1234:

Plus Onslow is in the wrong place to deal with the shortage in the North Island.

On the other had, nukes look a bit too expensive for the time being...

That quote was for 2 full scale nuclear reactors, they do make Small Modular Reactors which can generate up to 300MW each which would be cheaper and easier to distribute around the place. They can also be inherently safer.

Commercial SMRs don't exist. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't build them in NZ currently.

Batman

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#3228713 10-May-2024 12:57

if you want to not be dependent on fossil fuels yes but risk total annihilation cue fukushima. if you want to be dependent on fossil fuels, i think we should start drilling or be at the mercy of the big oil sending refined oil to the edge of the planet.

PS have we not yes mastered how to harness the energy of the sea waves?

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#3228715 10-May-2024 13:01

freitasm:

@rugrat:

I don’t think the nuclear materials in hospitals would cause the same damage as a power plant if something goes wrong.

Think again...

Goiânia accident - Wikipedia

Goiania radiological accident - Causes and consequences (nuclear-energy.net)

Cautionary tales is a great telling of the story.

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rugrat

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#3228718 10-May-2024 13:09

If there is a radioactive leak from a nuclear power plant (earth quake or other cause) will it do as much damage if there is a leak at the hospital?

In the example given the radio active material was carried all over the place and picked up from an abandoned hospital. The salvager was unaware of the danger.

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#3228720 10-May-2024 13:15

rugrat:

No Nuclear power plant near where I live thanks. I’m sure there will be a lot of people with same view in all areas.

I feel very uncomfortable with the thought of it, what if something goes wrong…no matter of saying how safe it is would make that uncomfortable feeling go away.

I have no problem with 5G or Vaccines for ones that try to stereo type a person on a singular view.

I don’t think the nuclear materials in hospitals would cause the same damage as a power plant if something goes wrong.

The risk of a power plant going sideways would be many thousands of times less likely than you getting mowed down walking or cycling to work, or driving in your car.

Chances are, no matter where they put it, someone will be uncomfortable. I'd be fine if the Government just bought the properties from concerned home owners within x KM from said plant (at CV).

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#3228725 10-May-2024 13:30

What is the likely cost to get solar and battery? I see Powershop mentions the following, but it seems too imprecise.

As a rule of thumb, a couple who are home most of the time and want an entry level system can expect to budget for under $10,000. From here, the price climbs depending on family habits. A small family may invest $12,000-$15,000 with larger systems costing $20,000+ with the added benefits of daytime power storage and sales of units of power back to the grid.

For me I'd be interested in a house with 2 people home most of the time, with battery to shift usage, and charging of an EV. Selling back to the grid is not important as I expect there would be very little of that with the use of the battery and EV.

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networkn

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#3228727 10-May-2024 13:37

We would need to spend about 20K to cover the $300 power we spend each month for our family of 4. Assuming we would want a battery, which we most certainly would.

An electrical engineer tried to pin me on this a few weeks ago lamenting my reluctance and saying I could sell my excess energy to a power company which would offset it.

I asked him if he had actually done any real world numbers. Unsurprisingly not so much. I gave him my card and asked him to send through his calculations once he did, and crickets.

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#3228729 10-May-2024 13:42

Shadowfoot:

Selling back to the grid is not important as I expect there would be very little of that with the use of the battery and EV.

That depends strongly on whether you are at home to charge the EV during the day. If you are not but you don't want to sell back to the grid then you have to have a battery big enough to fill your EV and panels big enough to make sure they charge it. For us the cost difference would have put the payback period for the solar system from ~6 years to "maybe never". It makes more sense for us to sell to grid when there is excess and buy it back at night when the cars are in the garage charging. Overall the cost is around 3c/kWh. In summer we tend to average over 30kWh hours a day (biggest I've seen was just over 40kWh but that is only for a cloudless day in high summer) but in winter it can be as low as 5kWh for a terrible weather day.

We do charge during the day because we both can work from home, but it isn't as much as we would have thought.

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sen8or

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#3228730 10-May-2024 13:43

Is the country capable of having a rational discussion on nuclear energy though? How do you decipher what is fear mongering from what is actual fact? One mans fact is anothers "fake news".

I'm certainly no environmentalist, but can understand the irreversible risks to the environment if something goes wrong. Granted, those risks are low, but they exist. Given many parts of the country are on active fault lines, it would seem the opportunity for "safe placement" of the plant would be sparse.

On the other hand though, if we want clean / green energy, coal/gas isn't the solution. We could subsidize solar installations on existing houses and mandate them on new builds where practical, add in other healthy home measures to make houses more energy efficient (isn't there a way of taking warmth from the ground and using that as heating, not sure of costs / practicality)

Adding more electricity hungry assets to NZ (EVs for example) will make a more permanent solution to our energy needs more and more urgent. The first cold day of Autumn and we are urged to switch off our heaters in the morning? Hardly long term or sustainable strategy.

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#3228733 10-May-2024 13:49

sen8or:

Adding more electricity hungry assets to NZ (EVs for example) will make a more permanent solution to our energy needs more and more urgent. The first cold day of Autumn and we are urged to switch off our heaters in the morning?

No, because your EV will have charged overnight and be finished in the morning. I noted this morning that Vector were imagining what if New Zealand had 10,000 fast chargers all running at once? Well, what if New Zealand gave every citizen a private helicopter? It could happen too.

You only use a DC fast charger if you have to. And 363 days of the year, you don't have to. You charge at home overnight*, because it's cheaper and you don't have to make a special trip to get there.

There is certainly a conversation to be had about this because it's already annoying to find a fast charger in some places during holiday peak times but there's almost as much fear mongering over the crisis of EV charging as there is over nuclear. That said, their call for regulation regarding smart charging is a part of the good conversation.

*Yes, I'm aware that there are people who can't. But that isn't a problem unique to NZ either, and there are plenty of things that can be done to address it. In the meantime, ICE isn't going away.

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networkn

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#3228735 10-May-2024 13:54

10,000 fast chargers running at once hardly seems out of the scope of possibility. I think the wild comparisons don't do much to add to the credibility.

There may be some scaremongering going on over the impact EV could have, but it's definitely a bigger problem than most EV Zealots I know, think it is.

I can't find the article right now, but there was an interesting one a few months ago, talking about the number of times we get in crisis with power in a year. Right now, every single one of those would result in blackouts.

Then there are the ones considered second tier concerns, which would all end up as proper crisis.

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#3228736 10-May-2024 13:55

What about Geothermal? We have a substantial amount of heat given our location on the earths crust that may provide power.

As Tweake mentioned about Gentailers arguing against the scrapped Onslow project, it concerns me how much political influence the energy companies have over these decisions.

Meridian getting away with no repercussions whatsoever for deliberately spilling excess water for profit has proven Gentailers are a law unto themselves and will resist anything that challenges their position in the market.

Tongue in cheek I mean if the brown stuff hits the whirring thing I'd always propose we just shut down the HVDC transfer and keep the power down South :D

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