Reply #19: Anyone who says that fossil fuels don't pick up the slack for a closed nuclear plant is delusional. [View All]

[Nihil]

No, coal is not "THE alternative to nuclear power"
but it is undeniably AN alternative to nuclear power
and one that power companies delight in using, simply
from the profit margins due to the lack of anything
approaching a carbon tax.

Natural gas is the source that has to cover for the
most of the unpredictable fluctuations in wind & solar
(depending on how much pumped hydro is available).

Yes, the situation WILL improve when more wind & solar
is deployed where the grid is capable of utilising it
but here & now, the slack is taken up by natural gas.

You don't have to like it but (at present) you can't avoid it.

:shrug: