Love the new sponsor layout. Clean and transparent. Looks great. Taiwan has deep political challenges. It's unfortunate that nuclear energy is being politicized, just like everywhere else.
Fantastic overview Thies! Yes the election will be interesting but what is more consequential is the people must wake up. Even within the anti-nuclear party (DPP), there is probably understanding within the leadership level that a nuclear continuation is necessary for the health of the Taiwanese grid. But they are afraid of the political cost. If we make being anti-nuclear a vote loser for them, they WILL change. If Taiwan runs out of power, the world runs out of chips. So I hope for everybody’s sake my country makes the correct choice 😅
It's so frustrating to see political tribalism win out over facts, logic, and pragmatism. Hope Taiwan can sort this out, no matter what happens in the election.
Taiwan is a source of inspiration for me because despite being about the same size as my country, it's economy is worth over 11 times ours. It made me realize just how important industry and the nuclear energy power it are, and why we are never going to develop just with the service sector. Taiwan is making a huge mistake by phasing out nuclear, they are killing the golden egg goose. But then again, their huge mistake could also be my country's opportunity.
Climate destabilisation from CO2 proliferation from fossil fuels is the world's biggest danger. Nuclear electricity is clean, but it will break the transmission grid if it tried to replace fossil fuels. 5 times more electricity is needed fast. The grid is lightweight and fragile because of it's cost. And so, it's prime value is in lighting the streets and buildings for a few hours. In the daylight hours during the summer the AC load can break the grid. Nuclear promoters will tell you that grid transmission costs are why Nuclear electricity must be at existing electricity generation plant. Nuclear promoters will tell you that grid transmission costs for distant renewables as they reach into the existing transmission grid is why renewables are so expensive. Nuclear promoters stop talking about the limits of nuclear electricity supply after they have filled the grids with nuclear electricity. Nuclear can not make all the extra electricity we all need without extra transmission grid capacity. They talk world CO2 danger, but don't talk new grid cost danger. The old economic saying, "It's the grid costs stupid". I say, that the grid is so valuable, and expensive, it must be protected. Making nuclear electricity is just a 'sexy' topic and a waste of time.
How much does it cost to retrofit a coal reactor to nuclear? Is it prohibitive in a time where it's harder to get those loans? It seems like nuclear is still quite a bit of political and financial effort.
At this moment it's still unclear how much it will cost. It is technically possible, and because it is, the US is sponsoring efforts to get this underway.
