Their electrical companies don't exactly have the best record for maintenance and repairs...
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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texas gon blow itself the shit up
Are you serious?
Based on the history of zoning and industrial accidents in Texas these will go next to residential areas.
Cancer Alley is getting some new developments! Or is that in LA? I think it's texas, around Houston or something.
It's both, I believe. I know Beaumont has stupid high cancer rates from all the chemical plants and refineries. The air there smells toxic.
Is it easier to secure, monitor fewer, bigger reactors or thousands of* small ones? Accidents are still going to happen and I know which scenario makes more sense to me. Especially in light of Trump's recent push to deregulate nuclear energy, kill the EPA, and pretty much any other kind of sensible management efforts of technology that is great until something goes wrong then it quickly becomes a multi-generational clusterfuck.
Solar, batteries and long-range transmission infrastructure just makes too much sense I guess.
Is it easier to secure, monitor fewer, bigger reactors or thousands of* small ones?
A moot point when we don't build new ones anymore.
But the big appeal of the molten salt reactor is that it doesn't require continuous manual interventions.
Solar, batteries and long-range transmission infrastructure just makes too sense I guess.
Sure. Obviously.
But that's WOKE, so we hate it.
Nuclear definitely has a role to play. Integrating SMRs into our global shipping fleet would eliminate the enormous waste and emissions of bunker fuel, for instance.
And areas that don't have reliable sunlight or wind (far north/south regions) or that require high steady output in confined areas (large factories, urban centers, major metro arteries, etc) can see real benefits, relative to gas or coal power.
It's a technology we should have invested more heavily in 60 years ago. Obviously, Texas will fuck it up. But that's not an indictment of the technology, just the capitalist dipshits that run the state.
When do the death claws show up?
How long until they’re driving around with leaking mini reactors in their lifted trucks with their don’t tread on me and blue lives matter stickers?
Uh, nice, but a similar project is taking place in Ontario, starting up in 2028. 4 SMRs.
Given that small scale nuclear is even less cost effective than GW-scale nuclear it appears a good way to burn investor money.
SMR are for site or temporary power, not grid scale. On paper they're a good fit for data centers and other localized power needs.
$120/watt is orders of magnitude worse than Vogtle's $15+/watt. Salt designs of the 1960s were abandoned due to corrosion issues.
Aalo is pure BS for promising eventual 3c/kwh which would require 50c/watt installation costs. Again, salt (sodium coolant) based that requires material science (always expensive) to limit corrosion. SMRs are a new scam needed because old nuclear scam has worn out.
SMRs are a new scam needed because old nuclear scam has worn out.
Idk about that. Consider the Linglong One (ACP100): Developed by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), it is the first SMR to pass an independent safety assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016. Construction began in 2021, and the core module was installed in 2023.
Definitely a challenge of materials sciences, but to call it a scam? Come on. Coal sticking around as long as it has is the scam.
Linglong One (ACP100) generates up to 1twh/year. $23/mwh in operational costs. At $5.5/watt ($700m) it is very reasonable for nuclear. But all of this is China. 1/3rd materials/construction costs, 1/2 financing costs. Anti-corruption by design, local and national government support supervises/ensures results. In west, we just have politically bribed oligarchist subsidy programs.
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