• SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    Where’s an example for an operating nuclear power-plant that can be dialed down to match demand?

    Afaik they have lots of momentum (for days even), and even their propenents argue for them being critical for providing a base supply1. Never have I heard anyone claiming they’d be good for matching fluctuating demand. Can you back that up?

    Or are you getting your anti-reneweblaes lobbying talking points mixed up? That argument is usually used for natural gas plants.

    1 which doesn’t make sense in a renewables dominated grid.

    • starik@lemmy.zip
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      1 day ago

      The closer the rods are to each other, the more collisions occur per unit time, and the more heat is generated.

      • SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org
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        4 hours ago

        That’s a super basic view on the science of nuclear power. As an engineer, I need a lot more than that, because it needs a lot more to put basic principles into working projects.

        So, is there a nuclear powerplant, that exists outside of some powerpoint slides, that is actually used to match fluctuating generation from other energy sources and/or fluctuating demands?

        All of the ones I know are/were used to provide a base supply by running more or less 24/7 at their designated output, not least because they need to do that to be even somehow economically feasible.