...wind turbines with the output of the two reactors at Diablo Canyon for 8 days in September, and for the day of the autumn equinox.
I have toyed with writing a post in the science forum on the results of this illustrative exercise, focusing on the difference in land use between the two energy forms. For long stretches of September, in two small buildings set on a physical footprint of 12 acres on a 700 acre plot of largely undisturbed chaparral produced more electricity than was produced in hundreds of square miles of soon to rot wind turbines, spread all over once virgin land, serviced by tons of unnecessary and often dead and other times sparking powerlines in a desiccated State.
Diablo Canyon has not closed yet. The crime against humanity the closure will represent is scheduled for 2025. California has already approved 5 new dangerous natural gas plants, which in a classic lie they call "temporary" to address the result.
Years ago, here at E&E, people used to cheer for all these power lines, thinking them "green." We don't hear much about them now. Now it's all PSE&G's fault, and the people who used to cheer for powerlines have changed the subject.
It's obscene.
The good thing is that both Diablo Canyon and San Onofre retain large amounts of used nuclear fuel. I have calculated that the 4000 tons of used nuclear fuel at San Onofre alone contains enough energy to power every energy application in the United States, now at 107 exajoules per year, for about 3 years, if utilized in Breed and Burn reactors. That's the energy content of just one small plant's used nuclear fuel. Indeed, it is possible that these kinds of reactors can obtain very high efficiency in heat networks, thus allowing for desalination, should desalination be done carefully by managing brines appropriately.
I have not looked into the equivalent resources at Indian Point.
I have been discussing these results with my son who is applying to graduate schools for a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, pointing to the value of these used nuclear fuels.
In Europe the dependence on gas, generated by "green" so called "renewable energy" is now being obviated. Poor people are going to suffer the most, but German industry is also going to pay a price for being so "green." The rest of humanity is also going to suffer the consequences in climate change.
Climate change is the issue in the environment, but it requires a bit more than repeating 50 year old cant on how so called "renewable energy" is the answer. It hasn't worked; it isn't working; and it won't work. The effort to embrace a fantasy has resulted in a tragic reality. I feel no schadenfreude, since all of humanity is paying for the reality. I after all, when I was young and stupid actually agreed that so called "renewable energy" is great.
Serious people are coming to their senses, even if unserious people continue to giggle.
I am too old to engage these types any more, and was a fool for doing so when I did in this forum. This has been become clear in the era of Covid where we see the anti-vax movement. The anti-vax movement, the anti-GMO movement and the anti-nuclear movement are all equivalent in my view.