How dependent is France on Niger's uranium?
How dependent is France on Niger's uranium?
The military coup in Niger has raised concerns about uranium mining in the country by the French group Orano, and the consequences for France's energy independence.
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I wonder how long until all those people always glorifying atomic energie come here...
Usually this community is full of them even in threads only talking about renewables.
This is one of the main problems with atomic energy that we haven't got any idea how to solve - Germany got pretty much all of their uranium from Russia - France from an unstable country like Niger - it's just not something you can extract easily in countries that care about their citizens so it'll always come from a shitty place.
I wonder how the Venn diagram looks between those people that defend atomic everywhere and the people telling you all about how bad electric cars are because of their batteries...
it's just not something you can extract easily in countries that care about their citizens so it'll always come from a shitty place
First two countries for known reserves are Australia and Canada, together they hold around 40% of all the uranium reserves of the planet. Uranium could also be extracted from seawater, obviously at a much higher price.
It's just that it's easier to extract it where exploitation rights for land is cheap. But that's unfortunately also true for many materials we need for renewables
Yeah but even though we're using the cheapest Uranium possible atomic power is STILL much more expensive than renewables - I wonder how insane the prices would be if you only took Uranium from good sources.
Also those costs almost never include the cost of securing the waste for thousands of years since you can't just leave the waste laying around out of fear of dirty bombs.
Sure it looks decent in a vacuum but with all the factors playing into it from Uranium being a limited resource that costs a lot to the waste-management it's just much more expensive than just spending the money you'd need to buy one plant on renewables and energy-storages that are also ready to go a lot faster...
the price of atomic energy is like 10% coupled to the price of uranium. the equipment, the salaries, the security measures, all those things are so much more expensive compared to the fuel.
people rarely grasp what 4 magnitudes of energy density increase mean.
yeah but how much more is Uranium if it's mined in Canada compared to the one from Niger or Russia?
sure it's not the main cost-driver but it's not irrelevant either.
Also: an installed solar-panel is very cheap in maintenance - and most of the running costs of are heavily influenced by inflation, too It just doesn't make sense to push for building more atomic reactors - keeping the ones already there running IS making sense but building new ones that may start producing energy in 10 years AND are massively expensive is just not a reasonable investment
yeah but how much more is Uranium if it's mined in Canada compared to the one from Niger or Russia?
Consider the cost from fuel is not mainly for uranium ore, but for fuel manufacturing and processing. Like taking the ore and transformer them in pellets fuel.
May uranium ore double in price the increase of cost for nuclear would be less than 0,005€/kWh
start producing energy in 10 years AND are massively expensive is just not a reasonable investment
How can Japan build a reactor in 36 month but we can't? How can other countries finance favouribly nuclear power (nuclear is the energy source that most of all the others suffer discount rated) but we can't?
Nuclear gave France one of the cheapest electricity price in Europe, but we don't want to retry because we don't feel we can achieve it?
Side note, solar panels have problems too as their carbon footprint could be 3 times higher than expected
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You mean the company the french state squished for profit for 2 decades and that during the pandemic has been forced to subsidized electricity prices for everyone?
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Ok but in the opposite direction you suggested
You alluded to the fact it has been subsidized, but it's the opposite, probably the program would be much better if EDF hadn't been treated like a cash cow
solar alone is never going to cover your needs. the moment you add the cost of battery storage, nuclear is definitely cheaper. yes, even new construction. for now. when the cost of batteries go down to 1/10th of what it's today, this might change of course.
Usually this community is full of them even in threads only talking about renewables.
I think you have to mention Germany and energy in the title to summon them.
This is one of the main problems with atomic energy that we haven’t got any idea how to use
Doesn't this apply to almost any form of power generation? Fossil fuels and raw materials for nuclear fuels are often imported from undemocratic or unstable countries. As are many of the raw materials required for renewable power generation and storage.
Using this as an argument againt nuclear power is as intellectually dishonest as the people using it as an argument against electric cars.
Or people citing rain forest balsa wood in wind turbine blades as their greatest concern while being totally fine with lignite coal.
I wonder how long until all those people always glorifying atomic energie come here...
You mean the realists who want to eliminate carbon emissions with more than wishful thinking? Or the people trying to educate against decades of the oil and gas corporations' anti-nuclear propaganda and fearmongering?
Ah yes nuclear energy only takes 20 years to build a new reactor. Ah the most expensive form of energy generation let's invest in that.
Ah yes, much better to keep building new coal or gas plants instead. "Fuck the planet, we're trying to save a dime."
Good strawman where did I say build coal or gas instead? How are you saving the planet when 1 reactor takes 20 years?
Because that's what's happening. Countries are building and reopening fossil fuel plants.
In 20 years that reactor can make up for thousands of tons a year of CO2. That's the same argument people have been using for 60 years, and here we are now. That it takes time is no excuse not to start.
Which country? Country's are investing in renewables you know the energy source that's cheaper and quicker to deploy than nuclear.
Nuclear is bad for your grid it's not flexible. Look at Germany since they stopped using nuclear they where able to use way more solar and wind which previously had to be turned off because nuclear is not flexible.
Which country?
Well, Germany, since you mention them. In their anti-nuclear hysteria, they're having to reopen fossil fuel plants after relying on russian natural gas for years. Germany is phasing out nuclear and it's proven a disaster politically and economically. But more importantly, a disaster for the environment.
Nuclear is bad for your grid it's not flexible.
No, that is exactly wrong and shows how little you understand about the power grid. Nuclear is useful exactly because of that, as it provides stable and predictable power, complementing renewables, and making up for what they can't. They go hand in hand if you're serious about decarbonising the grid, which Germany has proven they're not.
Nuclear is therefore competing with coal, gas, and oil in the power grid. Which is why we've been disinformed for decades by the fossil fuel megacorp's antinuclear propaganda. The slower we take up nuclear, the longer they can keep selling countries their dirty fuels.
Mate at least google the shit you are saying. Germany reopened some coal plants because of the lack of gas and those coal plants are already shut down again.
A grid with lots of renewables needs flexible energy not nuclear. But you dumbass can't even be bothered to look at Germany properly. Since they shut down nuclear they had more renewables in the grid because they didn't need to shut them down.
Germany's renewables share is exploding upwards since the shut down the last nuclear reactors. Don't take examples that make the opposite point of you.
Yeah, start calling people names when you don't know what you're talking about. I literally went to school for this shit. Do you even know what duck curves and grid base load are?
Germany is building new fossil fuel plants with public funding. Meanwhile, its emissions per capita are 50% higher than France's, and more than double those of Sweden. We need nuclear to speed up decarbonisation. You can fuck right off with your fossil fuel disinformation propaganda.
Looool maybe read your own source. Germany wants to build hydrogen peeker plants. Germany is not building new coal plants they are shutting them down. Europe's industrial powerhouse has higher carbon emissions than France and Sweden? I am shocked.
You keep mentioning France yet not even France is building nuclear at the rate they are decommissioning their old plants.
It takes 20 years for a nuclear reactor by that time Germany will already be climate neutral. This year Germany will add mor than 10gws of new solar even at only 20% usage that's more than 1 new reactor a year at a fraction of the cost and no fuel needed. The target rate will cap at about 20 GW which Germany is on track to beat.
Energy isn't used evenly throughout the day. Nuclear makes 0 sense and again just looking at Germany's numbers they used no new coal to compensate the loss of nuclear just more solar and wind.
https://www.zeit.de/energiewende-daten-visualisierungen
Since the decommissioning the energy got cleaner and cheaper. That's a simple fact you can't deny.