The UK’s electricity was the cleanest ever in 2024

[SteamyTea]

7 hours ago, joe90 said:

Air-cooled SMR

Water is a neutron modulator, so a good fluid to use.  Why it is used when storing nuclear waste.

[LnP]

20 hours ago, joe90 said:

It will be interesting to see to see if SMR,s can be viable, especially if UK built (rolls Royce)

SMRs are not going to be commercially available for a long time yet. There are numerous designs in development but only one has been licensed for commercial operation (see earlier posts in this thread). That design estimates an electricity cost of $0.089 /kWh but on past experience with nuclear, you can be sure that the price will rise a lot, and not just for inflation. So more expensive than renewables. None have been built.

 

For sure they will be part of the long term solution but not in time for net zero 2050. The risk though is that people use the hope of non-available technologies like SMRs to delay getting on with implementing the available ones like insulating our homes and electrification of heating and transportation. Yes there are challenges with electrification, like grid capacity, but we just need to get on and do it.

[Crofter]

1 hour ago, LnP said:

The risk though is that people use the hope of non-available technologies like SMRs to delay getting on with implementing the available ones like insulating our homes and electrification of heating and transportation. Yes there are challenges with electrification, like grid capacity, but we just need to get on and do it.

See also: 'green' hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, biofuels.