Pushing the most expensive electricity that there is

I personally suspect, and hope, that before much longer researchers will figure out how to run tech on considerably less electricity. And/or AI development will hit a wall.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s desire to build 5GW of new nuclear power in order to keep New York’s electric bills affordable and meet future energy demand has one pesky problem: the numbers simply don’t add up. That’s the overarching conclusion of a new report authored by the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Joseph Romm, which was presented in New York last week…

There are a myriad of possible reasons why both politicians believe new nuclear generation is a viable option moving forward, but it’s clear neither are paying attention to what just happened in Georgia – when two incumbent Republican Public Service Commission (PSC) members were removed from office by voters following massive increases in consumer electric bills. To be fair, neither Hochul nor Trump will be around to face the music if their plans are realized and New York starts the decades-long process to build 5GW worth of the world’s most expensive source of energy. - Beyond Nuclear

Nuclear bailouts are a big mistake

I think that on the whole the infrastructure package is a positive thing. I'd have done plenty of it differently, but I'm not in charge, nor will I be. Anyway, yeah, this:

The misguided but predictable decision by the Biden administration to waste $6 billion in taxpayer dollars propping up US reactors that were scheduled to close, further detours from and delays urgently needed action on the climate crisis...

Renewable energy is the fastest growing job sector in the US and would quickly provide a greater number of longer term, well-paying and obviously safer jobs for Americans. Equally, applying the $6 billion to the renewable energy growth sector instead of the financially failing nuclear power industry, would reduce more carbon faster for the same price.

As Stanford physicist, Amory Lovins, has repeatedly pointed out: “Most US nuclear reactors now cost more just to run – including big repairs that trend upward with age – than their output can earn. They also cost more just to run than providing the same services by building and operating new renewables, or by using electricity more efficiently.” - Beyond Nuclear

Update 4/30/22: The word now is that this may be too late to keep some old reactors going. I certainly hope so.