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CyberB0B39 writes: "The Department of Energy is set to approve $6.5B for a Georgia nuclear power plant, the first such plant in more than 3 decades. While other nuclear plants are shutting down due to competition from natural gas, Atlanta-based Southern Company is forging ahead with its planned construction of the plant."
[ED Note: "For those that are wondering, the new nuclear plant will be based on the AP1000 design by Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, a company based in Pittsburgh, PA and a subsidiary of Toshiba."]
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DOE to OK $6.5B for Georgia Nuclear Plant
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Can anyone remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
(Score: 3, Informative) by mojo chan on Sunday February 23 2014, @10:52AM
I imagine most homeowners can already get a $13,000 loan
I don't know about the US but a $13,000 loan is not small thing for most people where I live. The government here has a scheme where you are loaned the money but all the repayments go onto your energy bills, the idea being that the panels reduce the bills by more than the repayments. After 10 years it is all profit for you.
I don't think anyone would suggest forcing people to have solar panels, but if given the opportunity most people would take them up for free. Zero electricity bills is a rather attractive proposition. The problem is that the US is not very good at funding stuff like that, where the benefit is only to the electorate and not to some corporation that is bankrolling the local politicians. Look at the number of places that have banned municipal broadband.
And all those solar installations will only give you a fraction of the 2x1117MW these nuke plants will supply.
Doesn't matter. It is always cheaper to reduce demand by installing solar and improving homes than it is to build new capacity. Plus, it reduces emissions far more, and you get rid of the network losses by having power generated close to where it is used. There are knock-on effects too, like the fact that everyone's energy bill goes down and they can charge their electric vehicles very cheaply or for free, further reducing emissions. It also creates a lot more employment installing and maintaining a large number of panels, rather than just one nuclear plant.
Considering that those cost several times more than lead-acid batteries, it doesn't seem like they're a good deal, even in the very long-term.
I agree. The Japanese have developed low temperature sodium sulphur batteries that are an ideal fit. There are some 50MW range installations up and running already to back up wind farms. They can be installed at residences too. It is also possible to recycle used NiMH or lithium cells for this application.
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(Score: 2) by evilviper on Monday February 24 2014, @12:14AM
It's a pretty modest expense in the US. For some context:
2010, USA new home prices - Median: $221,800 Average: $272,900
"The 2011 Median Income of US households was $50,054 per annum"
So $13k is just 6% of the median home value, and just 26% of the annual household income (though a loan would typically allow 15-30 years to repay).
It's already clear that just installing solar panels won't do it. What were your other ideas for "improving homes"? If you're talking about extra insulation or similar, that probably won't help much with ELECTRICAL demand, because home heating dominates domestic energy usage in the US, and that's generally via natural gas, NOT electricity. I can see how it would help in tropical climates.
I would agree if we were talking about coal power plants, but these nuclear power plants will have almost zero emissions. Also, grid losses in the US only average 7%... Not a substantial amount, and certainly not enough to change the math in favor of 1/5 as much solar capacity.
Thanks for the tip, I'll look those up some time.
Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.