2mo ago

Sizewell C power station to be built as part of UK’s £14bn nuclear investment

www.theguardian.com

13 comments

And yet Hinkley C was approved in 2010 and is still not finished, current cost is at 3 times the orginal budget and ETA is now 2030 from originally 2023 (and may slip further).
What's worse is they contract in a fixed price for the power generated which is way higher than renewables can generate it for. So we're paying more for our electricity.
- Classic Britain
  Afaik it's headed by EDF so my current supplier is bound to expand some profit margins
- Also consider how much renewables that investment could buy; its not just 31billon of today money that will start to see some benefit 20 years after it was started.
- If we're not doing anything that the Tories mismanaged over the past 15 years the list of things to do is going to be very short.
  
  Sure, but the business case for a nuclear plant straight up doesnt stack up unless you're weighing some parameter other than the best interests of the public. The facts on the costs and timelines are sitting right there.
  Build out renewables - you get faster power on the grid (a couple of years vs a couple of decades) AND the power is cheaper. LOTS cheaper.
- What’s worse is they contract in a fixed price for the power generated which is way higher than renewables can generate it for. So we’re paying more for our electricity.
  I guess they do this due to the enormous amount of investment needed to build a nuclear power station, so need some way of guaranteeing returns on it?
  
  If funded by private investment. Yep.
  If funded as tax payer investment in important inferstructure. Nope
  
  Which is exactly why this is a bad choice
The important thing is, they're using SMRs.
Megaprojects can go off the rails of time/budget because people try to make them special, bespoke, unique.
"Nothing like this has ever been done before!" When really, you want your project to be like lego: Lots of standard parts (or at least, mass-produced for your project) that connect together to make a larger whole.
SMRs mean more common parts, and more modular building. Build the first, build the second faster, learn from mistakes, etc.

13 comments