Why don’t we have more nuclear power plants?

[safaiaryu]

That's just too obvious a solution, Hank, we'll never go for it.

[Shaunfromboston]

The actual hard part isn’t the costs. It’s explaining to the public that their town isn’t going to become the next Chernobyl.

[nesperado]

Many of the coal plants have already far surpassed their INTENDED life expectancy. My grandpa was an original member of our local coal plant in like 1953 (I think). My dad and brother were there the day they announced the shutdown of operation last year. I think it was designed to last 30 years.

I'm pro nuclear power, but it doesn't seem like a super smart idea to build a nuclear reactor on a decaying coal plant.

[JokerChany]

It's mainly because of the stigma regarding anything nuclear. I mean the population is far to scared to work on a power plant or be near one even if they are perfectly safe

[iq_pi]

Actually it's a political issue more than a money issue.

[TheMrBonzz]

The hard part is convincing people anything with the word Nuclear doesn't equal boom boom Oppenheimer Chernobyl.

[camg]

There is a power plant in rural southern MS that has switched from coal to nuclear. I used to work with a company they contracted to come do some crane work so they could access something (if I remember correctly they were turbines of some sort, but I’m not 100% certain). We walked through a portion of the plant that used to be in use when it was a coal-fired plant, and much of it seemed to just be out of commission and unused, not repurposed. However, in speaking with our guide who was in charge of the retrofitting, that area we saw was for the most part the only old equipment that wasn’t being used in the operation of the now nuclear plant. All that to say, I think power companies are getting this solution figured out. The down time can certainly be a killer for some companies, but the bigger ones like the one we were working with appear to be able to withstand the temporary financial strain for the long-term benefits.

Also - I’m not too sure what I’m at liberty to talk about after leaving my old company, so I left out a couple of the specifics. Not that they’re following my YouTube activity 😅 just erring on the side of caution. Still an overall positive thing that I hope more energy companies will do. Hopefully this will be encouraging for everyone!

[JamesBeaucoup]

In my high school chemistry class we had mock debates about whether or not to replace a lng plant in our county with a nuclear plant, 2 weeks of research and structuredd debates ans my group arrived at basically this solution. I think that was one of the best educational experiences ive had

[johnsunlight]

It's worth mentioning that nuclear fuel produces 1 MILLION times (literally) the energy output as the same amount of coal.

[jordanbolen]

The day people realize more people die in the coal industry due to job related injuries a year than the nuclear plants have ever killed, ever

[bgdojo]

It's not powerplants that scare me, it's people cutting corners with nuclear power plants that scare me.

[Pikminiman]

My state has no nuclear power, yet I've been driving past "no nuclear bomb factory in my back yard" billboards for my entire life. It's profoundly frustrating that so many people think coal is somehow less harmful than nuclear power.

[dakotaneumann]

As a guy that wants to be a nuclear reactor operator, this would be absolutely amazing

[admiralhajaan]

I think a potential problem will be retrofitting Coal burning power plant parts to work in nuclear power plants.
In the end it might be as expensive or even more expensive.
Not to mention that the power plant site itself has to be majorly overhauled to meet even the lowest safety standards of any country.
But it's still a pretty even Maybe.

[ghostsuru]

This explains why it was a major deal that a video game company helped fund a large chunk of money toward a new nuclear power plant.

Makes me proud to be a gamer and know my money isn't just going towards a company, but it's also sometimes being donated towards things that will (one day, in a roundabout way) come back to me to make my life (and other people's lives) better.

[mikesmith]

You’ve got two other obstacles to overcome. Firstly, government bureaucracy, and secondly, all the folk that scream “not in my back yard!”.

[prludejr]

Nuclear power awareness needs to happen. Its commonly thought of as extremely dangerous.

[Aves_]

There are less nuke plants because people think of nuclear as some big scary thing instead of what it really is

[Totally-Not-A-Robot]

My father worked for FPL for 40+ years as a welder at one of their plants. I learned early that almost all types of power are about using steam in order to turn a turbine. I think wind and hydro are the only ones where the turbine is turned directly. So it makes sense that you could convert a coal plant to nuclear. Wonder if they're working on how to convert natural gas plants too.

[rockercaterrorencountered]

I live near Three Mile Island and when it shut down recently I damn near cried. Such a shame to see clean energy destroyed because of public ignorance.