Strategically, this seems like it matters.
The French nuclear power plants are the backbone of the EU grid, but this winter, just when Europe is trying to not-buy-Russian-Gas, the French might need to import power instead of export it.
France runs off 70% nuclear power — it’s highest proportion in the world, and the second largest fleet — after the USA. For some reason, known only to international bankers or Renewable Gods, Early in Macron’s reign, he decided to reduce the carbon-free reliable nukes to just 50% by 2035 and fill the gap with short-lived, unreliable generators that cost a lot, need storage, backup, rare metals from China and slave labor from the Congo. Perhaps he was afraid (or whoever it was that helped him get elected) that France would show up all the schmuck-countries going to renewables?
But then the gas crisis started in Europe last October, and like clockwork, in November President Macron muttered the words “energy independence” and belatedly announced that it wasn’t such a bad idea to build some new nuclear plants. As things got more serious, in late February the French nuclear safety authority decided to extend the life of the 32 oldest reactors for another ten years and is now planning to retire them at age 50.
Bu by the end of April 27 nuclear reactors were out of action. Odd cracks had been discovered in five reactors last year due to corrosion and that had expanded to six more plants. A couple of weeks ago another one was taken off-line — so that’s 28 out 56 of EDF’s reactors. And some of these are slow repairs. There are already worries that there won’t be enough back in time for winter to keep the lights on in France without expensive imports during an energy crisis.
Interestingly, the plants that unexpectedly need maintenance are the newer ones with “convoluted pipes”. Prices of electricity are already higher in France. Don’t let anyone tell you the old plants are the cause of the rise!
France’s Nuclear Shutdown Hits 50% of Reactors, Squeezing Supply
Jesper Starn Bloomberg
Twenty-eight reactors are offline as Electricite de France SA struggles with extended outages after corrosion issues were found at some sites, requiring lengthy checks and repairs. The extra works come on top of already scheduled halts for refueling and regular maintenance, and has brought French nuclear output to the lowest in more than decade for the time of year.
Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-29/half-of-french-nuclear-fleet-is-shut-for-works-squeezing-supply
Western Europe has for decades relied on exports of power from EDF’s nuclear fleet. The cuts are another blow to European energy security just as the region is weaning itself off Russian supplies of everything from natural gas to coal and oil because of the war in Ukraine.
EDF Sees Bigger Earnings Hit as It Cuts Nuclear Outlook
The big test will come when temperatures start to fall toward the end of the year. It won’t take many days of cold weather to jeopardize French power supplies, according to Emeric de Vigan, chief executive officer at French energy analysis firm COR-e.
“Which such poor nuclear availability, if we reach 2 degrees Celsius below normal in the winter for a few days we could be in trouble, it would be really tight,” de Vigan said. Paying customers and factories to lower consumption are steps that likely will need to be taken, he said.
The problem is with the new reactors not the old ones
Perhaps the designers got a bit too tricky?
EDF’s newer reactors seem to be most affected because of the design of some of their piping, which is longer and more convoluted, Clement said. The cracks tend to show up very close to welds at the pipes’ elbows, most likely because of a vortex of hot and cold water, and possibly because of how the welds were done.
Europe’s Biggest Exporter of Power Might Need Imports in Winter
The challenges for the utility are now so great that President Emmanuel Macron has suggested some of its key activities could be nationalized as part of a broader plan to bolster the country’s energy independence.
At least he’s not proposing to give control to the EU or the UN. It could be worse.
Good morning Jo,
You never fail to deliver the goods!!
Great expose by your good self, & of course Paul Homewood also.
This (Euro.) winter could quite possibly bebe the beginning of the end of “The great European Green Pyramid Scheme”!!
Lord knows you & I (& tens of thousands of enlightened Aussies) have been waiting long enough for it!!
Together with the mid-terms in the US. in November, hopefully we can all truly be drinking many celebratory “sherbets” on both counts between now & Xmas.
As always, warm regards, reformed warmest of Logan!
650
The trouble is that the international elite will never admit they were wrong and will throw any amount of taxpayers money at proving that green energy is a great idea because they thought of it.
660
Yep, our hapless national politicians and their global elite puppet masters will simply blame external events, never admit it’s a long term energy policy disaster of their own making.
350
True, but certain things must be done to keep the lights on. They will be done.
222
6 months should be enough time to fix some pipes in the power stations.
They should start fixing them now.
41
It will likely take a few months to work out why the welds are failing. It will take more months to work out changes that will endure. There will be more months to establish safe work procedures. Then a few months to undertake the repairs. Maybe 12 months unless they already have the fix from previous failures.
Nothing done in a nuclear power plant is done quickly and easily.
110
In steam Power Piping, if problems occur at bends, it requires a metallurgical analysis of the welds, the bend walls, and a thorough review of the supports and thermal history of the operating conditions. Welds or their pre/post heat treatment can reveal quality issues. Problems at the bend walls are usually a result of poor steam quality control such that liquid droplets form and reach sonic velocity, thereby eroding the bend exterior radius walls. If the piping was installed such that the ends are essentially “pinned” or rigid, then the welds go into excessive bending between cold and hot linear dimensions which causes the welds to go into bending, which can cause cracks. If the steam temperature is cyclically fluctuating ( too frequent ramp up and down cycles ) then the welds can be subject to cyclic fatigue failure. This is usually a control system problem or a manual over ride issue that causes an off-design number of thermal cycles sufficient to induce cyclic fatigue bending failure of the welds. As you say, this won’t be done quickly. It has to be done correctly or every effort is a waste of time. Probably a 6 to 9 month endeavour.
180
Peter
This is from the ADF site:
Such problems are not unlike recall on motor vehicle fleets due to safety concerns. But this shows the complexity in identify the problem and determining a suitable fix.
These are the sort of issues that cause wind turbines to fall over. Their maintenance is not viewed quite so critical as nuclear plants.
70
The fact that they are inspecting for faults in these locations means that the design would have considered the issues. It has taken 20 years for the issue to show up.
Stress corrosion cracking is a common issue in industrial process plant and can be a challenge for metallurgists to find the best material, element design and welding procedure to avoid recurring issues.
100
They are doing a 10 year inspection of the pipes and welds.
Surely a temporary fix can be made that can last 12 months, to get them over the winter?
00
Replying to Peter C #1.1.1.1.2
Currently it is spring/summer in the northern hemisphere.
00
It would be fun to watch a journalist ask the new Minister here to explain how electricity is generated using coal.
70
Minister, I was wondering, could you explain how electrical power is generated from coal?
I’m sorry, at press conferences for this Labor Government, we only take questions from Union affiliated journalists.
Tony.
30
“….because they thought of it.”
And, as always, the SPILLAGE.
60
they won’t admit they were wrong because the planned the whole thing as an orchestrated collapse.
why do you think the WEF has around 50% ‘penetration’ of the governments of the west
131
to clarify:
klaus: over 50% of the Canadian cabinet are WEF members.
so the inference is it is similar in other western countries as well.
42
Getting better all the time! A fossil fueled building boom may flow from this growing mess. Voters need their juice.
363
Seems like alot of fingers are in the dikes when quality is compromised and the flaws start to burst this Electric Vehicle bubble and not getting recharged by having no electricity at all.
350
Doest look like being “voters” matters much any more as a) its not the voted making most of the decisions or having influence and b) dont think the outcome of supposed elections has much to do with what voters want around the world any more.
182
Mr. Wojick,
I think perhaps you’re still a of person of faith. Like you, I grew up in Space Age/Star Trek world.
In the West we thought that reason and Vulcan logic had conquered barbarianism. That Evil was a superstition of the past primitive world.
We have our books and science, and representative government.
Hope I’m wrong, but it looks to me like we were living in a fantasy.
The dark forces have returned and are reconquering Camelot.
I don’t think the Macron/Trudeau/Andrews/Ardern children of Klaus are just making misguided policy mistakes.
They F ing the pooch on purpose.
They’ve developed some weird quasi-religious neo-pagan ideology.
(I can’t help but notice how they defame Christians but genuflect to everyone else.)
They operate like the Borg collective, as if the plan is pre-programed into their brains such as they have them.
To them ‘voter’ is the new peasant.
130
Interesting how people read history (or used to) and think, “how stupid they were”.
But here we are with authoritarianism, complete ignorance of basic physics & engineering, evil mandates etc etc etc.
People are completely blind as history repeats.
Michael Crichton has a good forward in one of his books on this topic of how people think we are so smart and intelligent and those in the past absoute dunces. I see no evidence of this intelligence amongst most of those I deal with. One who is outstanding is Gerard Rennick, Senator for QLD. He actually looks at science, reality and morality – and is under continual attack from his stupid LNP colleagues. If we had a parliament of Rennicks we would make such progress peoples heads would spin…
150
Well Honk, in America at least the climate alarmists are making very little policy headway, and that was before the energy crisis. I am indeed optimistic at this point. Speaking of headway, the wind and solar growth does not count because the utilities are doing that to make big profits.
01
“To them ‘voter’ is the new peasant”.
Possibly illustrated here in Australia in our recent Voteathon.
We, the peasantry, “voted” but somebody else counted them for us, cause we probably can’t count properly.
But.
Comments from peasant scrutineers that leaked out have cast some doubt on the integrity of the tally process and that leaves me wondering if the final published result is reliable.
Probably doesn’t matter who gets in because the libs/labs/greens are all “in it together” skimming from the Renewerables mission.
I can see the future: oceans and forests full of stagnant decaying turbines and our farms covered in glassy structures drooping and bent and immovable. The karbon nightmare, fixed, useless and there forever.
10
And yes; none of that counts because it’s 2022 and we are making leeway.
00
The obvious logical thing to do on Australia’s east coast is to immediately recommission the 500W generator that recently shut down at Liddell, and announce that Liddell will not now be shutting down in 2023. The world has become a different place in recent months.
We are afflicted from time to time with scholars citing The Law of Supply and Demand. These scholars display not the slightest comprehension of either Supply or Demand. There is indeed such a “law”, and in the long run it does work as they say. But in the short run it can produce some very perverse results.
20
Now, here is the rub. France has traditionally been an electricity power exporter especially to Germany. So, if France needs to import electrical power then who to import from. No other country in Europe has the spare capacity right now so that “strategy” isn’t going to work. Turn out the lights please. Whoops, they just turned off by themselves………..Oh well, back to the Drawing Board…………………
331
As Jo mentioned, French electricity generation is roughly 70% nuclear, but the other 30% (roughly) is hydropower… in case no one knew this.
It makes no sense why they decided to build wind farms etc.. except to those getting all those euros in subsidies and kickbacks, of course.
I will dig out an electricity bill and see how much I’m paying these days, I originally signed up with EDF, and saw no point trying to change providers for a few cents per month. My apartment is all electric, but it is not that big, so I don’t use that much in the scheme of things. I had to switch over to a “smart” meter late last year, they bugged me continuously until I agreed.
Until now, power delivery has been ok, no real blackouts, although there are occasional interruptions that manage to reset various electronics.
311
So pray tell us, what is / was the perceived advantage of the Smart meter under your circumstances ? Our Meter ( non smart) is in the outbuildings, far away. I know how much we use almost to the 1/10th kWhr – per day based on monthly averages ( rolling) and see no reason to use a smart wart which when multiplied by the millions, will need an extra power station to power them ALONE in total for the Nation.
260
James is being selfless. It electricity gets tight the power company can turn his power off leaving more for the rest of us who have steadfastly refused to be part of enforced energy rationing.
310
“Smart” meters?
They can do a LOT more than produce billing data.
Think: remote-controlled “load-shedding”.
Security and integrity? Up there with networked electronic voting systems.
170
I didn’t have a choice to change to a smart meter. Long story short, the land-lord wanted it done, so it was done.
190
Yes, appreciate your situation: read something t’other day about Landlords being held responsible for xxxx …. Oh yes, DeFrock. A Guide to Seeking Damages From Wind Energy Project Owners/Operators Made me think about it all. just like my Customers insisting I use the latest modern “un-smart” tech machines, etc to do my work for them. Pencil & Ruler draws an adequate straight line, in my book.
101
We had the opposite problem in England. We rented out a small house in northern England for a while and our tenant allowed the electricity company to change to a ‘smart’ meter without reference to us. It was very annoying.
When we rebuilt here we needed a new power board and, you guessed it, were forced to have one here too.
50
“I originally signed up with EDF, and saw no point trying to change providers for a few cents per month.”
Smart move. Here in Australia we have a second supply provider urging its customers to leave them and go elsewhere. This time its ReAmped Energy.
The old adage used to be look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. In this upside down world it is now a case of spend too much time looking after the pennies and the pounds will cost you a fortune. Stay safe, and warm. Cheers.
140
Blamed on the high price of coal, of course…
They seem to ignore that coal is expensive because it is in demand, which is patently opposite to the usual story that the coal industry is shutting down due to lack of demand…
still, a story wouldn’t be real propaganda if it didn’t have glaring holes in it.
70
“…urging its customers to leave them and go elsewhere. “.
That suggests impropriety to me.
00
” As Jo mentioned, French electricity generation is roughly 70% nuclear, but the other 30% (roughly) is hydropower ”
The wise choice for a country with France’s physical geography. 65 years ago, when I was at the first school grades, I was taught of the hydropower in the classes dealing with the geography of my country (Portugal). Suggestively, it was called in our school manuals the “white coal”.
The wise choice: making the water do some work before it reaches the ocean. Another use that nowadays is sensed to be “sinful” is increasing agricultural productivity through irrigation.
50
Let them eat (yellow) cake.
40
Hmm, sounds awfully like some of that stuff which I’m seeing ( part reading ) about . All about Conspiracies to reduce the food supply as well – all those accidents putting processing factories, fertiliser supplies, etc into short supply.
FWIW, WE are thinkinig that even the Veg seed or compost which we buy is all sub-standard. Seed gives less than 50% germination and isn’t particulalry vigorous. – is it the cold dull days of May, or….? Never seen this happen before. So in the Grand Scheme of Life, designed to get us to waste our time growing our own food, conclude we cannot be self-sufficient as such and revert to eating “Mass-produced” genetically EDITED food ( not modified , you understand ) Then we will be truly dependent upon the State.
201
You are right, modern seed compost and gro bags seem to be full of road sweepings . Plants do badly in it and the bags need constant watering as they dry out so quickly
The problem is that peat is no longer used in the bags, or if it is in much smaller proportions than previously.Peat is a great growing medium but road sweepings aren’t.
140
Perhaps there are restrictions on the sale of peat in various places?
There are restrictions in the UK, not sure about Australia but it wouldn’t surprise me.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/18/sales-of-peat-compost-to-gardeners-to-be-banned-from-2024
80
The answer for France is simple, just install more windmills, solar panels and Big Batteries, LoL.
180
Does France have coal? 🙂
Oh look , seems that they do…
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-looking-using-more-winter-coal-nuclear-output-lags-2022-01-27/
70
France has coal deposits but existing deposits such as at Ronchamp were mined 1810-1958 but the mines are now closed. The last operational mine was the La Houve Mine which closed in 2004. Remaining French coal is expensive to mine. I think France relies on imported coal from the US and Australia for limited coal power production and steel production.
130
They are indeed installing wind turbines and solar panels at a rate of knots.
What isn’t legislated by France is almost always covered via EU diktats and France loves to follow along.
150
I don’t understand how there can be these corrosion problems. Metallurgy and welding procedures, especially for mission critical applications such as nuclear reactors are well enough understood that these problems simply should not happen.
Something is amiss with the training of scientists and engineers involved in the design and construction of these reactors.
Interesting that there are no problems with the older reactors.
If I suggested sabotage, I’d probably be called a “tin foil hat wearing white conservative male conspiracy theorist”.
391
This article from the Financial Times might help. For some reason output from nuclear has been falling for over 10 years now, which the FT links to ineptitude within EDF
122
David,
my thoughts exactly.
On critical welds (all welds at nuke plants should be) are heat
treated at and near the weld to “normalise” the site. And
that is after the weld area has been x-rayed to check for
weld defects.
I smell a rat.
90
France is not unique with these problems.
The US has shut down reactors for similar issues
Nuclear reactor and their service systems are subject to unique conditions and critical safety regs.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702110702200
20
I do not know the vintage of these plants but I know from first hand experience that there was shoddy work coming out of Europe in the 1990s. My experience was with a reputable gearbox manufacturer based in Germany. Some of the work that led to failure was worse than shoddy.
The problem was related to declining workmanship as West German manufacturers absorb East German workers (and supervisors and “engineers”). Rather than the East German workers elevating to the standard of the West, the West German workers degraded to match the standards accepted by the East Germans.
There is a lot of itinerant, questionably trained, workers in Europe. Not so different to construction in northern Australia where Indonesian workers come into projects in large numbers.
However this appears to be a design issue rather than QC on the method. It could be an issue with a particular supplier. The pipes may have been welded up in Thailand for example.
It is much easier to get engineering detail wrong than getting it right.
110
My guess is cyclic fatigue failure at the bend welds. Probably from poor temperature control or excessive ramping or unforeseen pinned supports that force expansion induced bending. Welds are great in tension or compression, but bending is a bad idea. I’ve seen a 75 cm seamed pipe fail at 80 bar because of pinned ends. Killed everyone within 50 meters.Blew out the control room walls like they were paper. All because of cyclic fatigue failure. It was a piping design issue and cyclic ramping of the steam temperature. A few decades ago, but history does rhyme.
70
Lance, if you read the reports above, you will see it is not a weld problem,
It has clearly been identified a “Stress Corrosion” which can occurr at any point wher the metal has been stressed,….bent, under high load, , or in the case of pipes,.. over pressurised.
Temperature, humidity, chemicals, heat cycling, etc are also factors
10
I read them. They posted after I posted. SCC is not uncommon, esp in SS at those temps and pressures.
10
@David
Look also to the purchasing dept – they may be sourcing pipe and materials on the local and international markets from low cost and dodgy suppliers.
Also the specification should be correct and comprehensive – and in my experience that is not always the case. See below.
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/122736-government-pipe-specifications/
Q.E.D Quite Easily Duped.
50
Hmm not fully qualified at this level but an intelligent observer ( if I may say). But but, Q.A. = Paper trail should illuminate part of the problem. I can ponly offer Solutions to other’s problems.
10
In the railways during their steam days they had Coppersmiths who looked after the steam pipes.
20
My reading suggested that somebody, maybe a journalist, doesn’t know the difference between corrosion and erosion.
00
During WWII, German warships had problems with super high pressure/super high temperature steam power plants. This was a particular problem on destroyers and cruisers but it also affected battleships such as the Scharnhorst. The power plants were not all that reliable. It wasn’t until 1942 when they started getting a handle on the problem. It was the metalurgy. They did not have enough nickel in the alloy. This is where 316 stainless steel was developed. A contributing factor was chloride contamination. Hydrogen embrittlement during super high temperature operation may have been a problem as well, but it has been a long time since I seen the documentation on it. But I have seen erosion of steam piping, particular at bends, in industry, despite the best materials and the best possible QC. These things are ultra sound and x ray checked constantly.
The QC of the welding at a nuke build is beyond anal. Normally for such things as refineries, piplines, conventional power plants, and so forth, there is a tolerance for minor welding imperfections allowed. Not at a nuke build.
The fact that is the newer builds having the problems, causes me to suspect it might be materials no longer allowed, such as asbestos in the insulation (which could cause excessive heat cycling), being absent. Just a guess.
20
The lefties who do things like declare their municipality a “nuclear free zone” don’t worry at all about visiting France, which has had lots of nuclear power and nuclear powered navy for a long time.
230
Nuclear free zone is usually ignorance.
Examples are within metres of Melbourne hospitals where various nuclear equipment is used.
100
In 1981 on the footpath not 50 metres from the entrance to the oncology clinic at the children’s hospital at Camperdown, right by the University of Sydney.
20
Exactly and they buy French Cheese from farms located next door to Nuclear Power Plants…….Radioactive cheese no less…….lol
50
Erasmus, one council in Adelaide which included Port Road used to have little signs on their light poles stating that this was a nuclear free zone until it was pointed out that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was in their district and also in their district there were many household ionizing smoke alarms which used Americium.
The signs were subsequently removed.
PS Port Road is a major road linking the city to the North West and the port.
10
Hope its not too early in the thread for a somewhat off topic
But Queensland’s palace chook looks like missing her anti-CO2 commitments.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/31/surprise-queenslands-green-left-government-is-on-track-to-miss-their-climate-targets/
152
If Queensland wants to be truly “green” they should stop all coal exports, stop importing coal power from NSW and Vicdanistan and shut down its own coal and gas power stations.
It’s for their own good, you know…
Queenslanders simply don’t need industry, agriculture or to be warm, cool or be able to see at night. Let them become hunter-gatherers.
311
“stop importing coal power from NSW”
Actually, a majority of the time Qld is feeding electricity to the top half of NSW..
Its about equal at the moment, one connection is +, one –
120
It’s a bit nippy here this morning David…300k or so north of Brisbane. I did however install a 9kVA diesel genset back in 2017, knowing where we were heading ( Jo and the posters here helped me make the decision ). As long as I can find and afford to buy diesel, I should be able to keep the lights on whilst the Palace Chook and her minions sort out the mess.
160
And with diesel, Glenn, you can also run it on vegetable oil if there is no food shortage…
130
Speaking of diesel.. SA are using the diesel generators again now that the winds have died down.
Interconnects providing just a tad more than wind.
120
65% of the states electricity is from fossil fuel right now but I notice there is no symbol to indicate the amount of brown coal fired electricity from Victoriastan and hasn’t been for awhile even though one line was at max .
90
Approaching noon the wind in SA is below 10% of capacity (officially a wind drought by my classification). Across the NEM itis 50%.
This is a live display so it will change.
100
Certainly windy on the East coast !
10
Worse now b nice , was 80% fossil fuel a few minutes ago and one extension cord was maxed out the other creeping up .
40
LOL 4:10pm eastern time
South Australia 1128MW Gas, 223MW Diesel, 187MW Interconnects, 54MW Solar, 35MW wind !
It really is a huge JOKE on everyone, isn’t it. !
40
It got worse , wind is 1% right now .
https://www.aemo.com.au/Energy-systems/Electricity/National-Electricity-Market-NEM/Data-NEM/Data-Dashboard-NEM
30
Interesting…shall investigate.
10
David,
QLD used to EXPORT about 1,000 MWh regularly
to the “Mexicans”. 2015 and 2016.
It has tapered off a bit now.
30
“But Queensland’s palace chook looks like missing her “anti-CO2 commitments.”
That’s it then.
No breathing for two weeks to flatten the curve.
I suggest vacuum sealed head bag mandates.
50
I didn’t really mean that.
My body was temporarily taken over by Bill and Klaus.
It’s been happening more frequently.
Fauci is a little easier to fight off.
He wanted two vacuum sealed head bags.
30
Slowly the climate change zealots are coming to the conclusion that nuclear energy need not compete with renewables, but it can augment them in a world that needs both climate remedies and reliable power.
I suppose the zealots had to find some way out of their predicament and avoid admitting they got it totally wrong. Oh well, if that means we all go nuclear and that was that then it wouldnt be so bad but it goes beyond all that as most of us know. Draconian measures to encourage us to drive electric cars is one of many examples. However, if they speed up the development for SMRs then by all means go ahead!
50
PeterS:
The problem is that nuclear and renewables aren’t compatible – in that nuclear runs best as a continuous process and renewables are always disrupting the grid with sudden changes in supply. Yes, some nuclear plants can ‘load follow’ with the most common approach to keep running (generating steam for the turbines) but sending it straight to the condenser, but sudden increases in demand have to be covered by hydro. That isn’t a problem in France where they have a lot of hydro, and might be able to draw from Germany and Spain (including Andorra).
But they almost certainly won’t be able to draw from the UK with their intended policies.
Try Comment 60 in Tuesday Open Thread (Oldozzie).
UK Cabinet discussing Climate Change
50
You, I and many others here know that but the climate change zealots don’t.
20
If they can develop a small nuclear power plant to power a nuclear powered submarine for 30 years with minimal maintenance, then they can sure construct reliable and efficient SMRs. The Rolls Royce consortium is on a winner here methinks. Humankind is now saved so chin up everyone……………….
20
I have always believed in God and now I think He is doing His bit to expose the foolishness of man. Not all men but those non-believers who really think they can control the weather.
182
Keep looking to the heavens and keep your phone (camera) close and fully charged. Something potentially very large flew over Brisbane in last half hour. Didn’t see it first hand just the vapor trail it generated and upper wind current had started to disipate it when I did see it. But judging from the amount, width and length of trail that remained spread out there must have been loads of it generated so guessing something fairly large.
30
oooh which way was it headed? Could it be in Canberra soon?
11
No we still NOT that lucky. LOL
11
So why should I keep my phone charged?
03
So you can phone home like ET.
60
That movie reference doesn’t make sense or humour in this context.
06
Yes it does.
To Earthlings with a sense of humor.
81
“doesn’t make sense or humour”
And yet, here we are, laughing.. 🙂
00
As I mentioned on another thread the other day debate is what you use to catch defish and decharge is what you get when you take dephoto with dephone.
60
So… did this flying thing do anything anywhere. Have you seen more of them? Have you checked your glasses to see if there is a spot on them?
00
From Wikipedia: “Nuclear power in Germany accounted for 13.3% of German electricity supply in 2021, generated by six power plants, of which three were switched off at the end of 2021, the other three due to cease operation at the end of 2022 according to the complete nuclear phase-out plan of 2011. However, in early 2022 this plan was called into question once more in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine which threatens Germany’s supply of natural gas. There have been calls to either delay the shutdown of the remaining three reactors or to restart operation in those reactors that were shut down in late 2021.”
180
Karma.
130
Sow and Reap is more Western.
10
An expanded view on what was going on in Germany last year BEFORE the Russia stumble into Ukraine. Read it before the lights go out.
50
Fuel switch from coal to gas continues
Despite the sharp rise in gas prices, the overall picture still shows a fuel switch from coal to gas. In the first six months of this year, Germany’s gas-fired power plants generated almost 19 percent more electricity than in 2020 and 25 percent more electricity than in 2019. The increase in coal-fired power generation is thus mainly driven by low renewable generation, increased electricity demand and partly also by the high gas prices this year. However, despite the increase in coal-fired power generation in Germany, there is still no sign of a definite backswitch from gas back to coal.
80
Civilisation is a fragile thing.
Unless it is constantly fought for, the forces of anti-civilisation will take over, exploiting any and all weaknesses.
The Left fully understand this and are currently well into their program of deconstructing Western Civilisation and all that is good and decent.
The Left leadership know exactly what they are doing, supported by an ignorant dumbed-down slave army of “useful-idiots”, the product of an “education” system infiltrated and dumbed-down by the Left over the last 50 or so years.
Australia had Tony Abbott and the US had Donald Trump who could have reversed some of the madness and look what happened to both of them. Even if Western nations got rational leaders (e.g. in 2.5 years for the US, 3 years for Australia), the damage done by then will be so severe, recovery may not be possible.
That, ladies and gentlemen (and others!) is the true nature of the Existential Crisis we are facing, not the “climate”.
351
UK Cabinet discussing Climate Change
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A Brief History of Transportation
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So South Australia have declared a climate emergency , does this mean the filthy coal powered extension cords get cut . The diesel generators get blown up along with the gas peaking plants so finally the state can live a green utopia ? Or are they planning on switching to nuclear?
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/south-australia-declares-climate-emergency/video/1164b59f3b22106f63d123afe5040141
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Probably from the video they will do the Oliver Twist (“please sir I want more”) with the Federal Govt. over GST.
This will not go down well with other States.
Still they are going to build a hydrogen plant – hydrogen the wonder fuel – except this requires lots of electricity to run and more again to run the necessary desalination plant. And you cannot use it directly (in current plants) as a fuel.
And this in the State with the most intelligent Premier (with only NSW competitive).
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sfw says:
June 1, 2022 at 7:34 am
The idiots in SA have declared a ‘Climate Emergency’ at the same time we’ve been blanketed with early snow, so much that the lifts are opening early at Perisher. Cognitive dissonance I guess, your eyes tell you one thing but the mind prefers to believe another.
https://www.perisher.com.au/perisher-news/perisher-now/1542-snow-much-snow?utm_source=perisher-edm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-llr-launch-eap22&spMailingID=20751765&spUserID=NDQyMjIwOTgyNjU2S0&spJobID=2362305653&spReportId=MjM2MjMwNTY1MwS2
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Climate emergency? Don’t think so. The climate remains the same today as it was a week ago.
Electricity emergency would be closer. What else can you call the natural consequences of government stupidity.
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Elbow on Climate
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Just like Hawke’s statement “No child will live in poverty” except this time the failed promise will result in catastrophic consequences for everyone if their actions are allowed to continue.
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Meanwhile in America – Another Nuclear Plant Closes: Get Ready For Electricity Shortages
America’s electric grid is being mismanaged and consumers will pay a heavy price for that mismanagement…
More evidence of that came with the recent closure of the Palisades Power Plant in Michigan. The 811-megawatt nuclear plant was shut down on the same day that the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a report saying the U.S. electric grid doesn’t have enough generation capacity and that blackouts are almost certain to occur across the country this summer.
In particular, NERC noted that the Midwest is facing a capacity shortfall that could lead to a “high risk of energy emergencies during peak summer conditions.” Palisades was located in the heart of the Midwest, immediately adjacent to the area served by the Mid-continent Independent System Operator (MISO), the region that NERC identified as being particularly short on juice. NERC said the MISO region has 3,200 megawatts less generation capacity this summer than it did in 2021. Despite this loss of generation capacity, NERC expects demand in the region to increase by about 1.7 percent this summer and warned that “extreme temperatures, higher generation outages, or low wind conditions” will mean that MISO will have a “higher risk” of “load-shedding to maintain system reliability” — the industry’s preferred term for rolling blackouts.
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It’s only being mismanaged from the point of view of a rational observer.
The Biden regime is causing it’s deliberate mismanagement into oblivion because this is a deliberate strategy to lower the standard of living of Americans and similarly in all other Western countries.
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Chris Bowen on ‘the world’s climate emergency’
The World’s Climate Emergency is Australia’s Jobs Opportunity
Let’s Go Brandon
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From the Comments
That’s not a wind turbine in the background…it’s a strategically placed pedestal fan to blow away the accumulated methane nearby.
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On the radio I just heard an Australian Government minister say that energy prices were high and rising because the previous government didn’t invest in enough unreliables. He claimed/lied that they will fix that with….Even more unreliables.
More unreliables = higher costs.
That’s so well established that it’s beyond a hypothesis or theory but a law.
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As I’ve pointed out further up , right now South Australia is 65% powered off fossil fuel and the NEM no longer show in the fuel mix what % is from Victoriastan and brown coal . SA has the largest exposure to intermittent so called renewables and has the highest price , doesn’t matter how many more wind mills and solar panels they put up when the weather isn’t just right neither is the amount of power they get .
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Just had a look and worked out the % for Vic, it is 49% brown coal, so 49% of SA’s Vic imports are brown coal.
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Right now 80% of SA is powered by fossil fuel , where’s your emergency now South Australia ?
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If you want to see some fun have a look at those NEM power generation figures tomorrow (2/6/22 ). There’s a major cloud formation about to cover the whole of the East coast. Plus there will be low wind conditions in SA, Vic and NSW. So that’s virtually nothing from both solar and wind for the whole day and night.
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Richard Marles – what a maroon!
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Of course David.
To the teal mind we need far more windmills when the wind doesn’t blow and far more solar panels when the sun doesn’t shine. And the nation would run entirely on windmills and solar panels if only the coal and gas fired power stations were shut down and blown up.
Of course the power supply would be intermittent at best but every teal has diesel backup.
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Electricity supply is the responsibility of State Governments, they privatised/leased/demolished those State public assets and before any development can proceed like wind, solar or new power stations State approvals must be obtained. Same applies for dams as water supply is also a State responsibility.
The new Minister should be reminded that Federal Government can only propose, and the previous Morrison Government proposed 4 gas generators with 1 for NSW and 1 each for VIC and SEQ, and 1 coal fired power station for NQ. To date 1 gas fired generators has been approved for location in the NSW Hunter Valley by the State Coalition NSW Government.
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For accounting tax purposes a power station is usually written off against tax liability over 50 years, but of course could continue if well maintained for decades longer.
To achieve 50 years from wind turbine installations would require the original wind turbines and two removal and replacements for 50-60 years service.
But as we are told, the renewables are getting cheaper.
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There is an inherent simplicity with coal fired electricity generation vs other thermal fuel sources. Over the years I have watched various docos on all the nuclear power plant disasters. More recently some of these events have been either produced as dramas (Chernobyl ) or as extended documentaries (Three Mile Island ). My overall impression from all that I have learned about nuclear power over this time is that the engineering is extremely complicated, the plants take a long time to construct and that the threat of a BIG disaster is always possible. In the Three Mile Island incident in 1979 the operators (unbeknown to them) were only about 1/2 hour from a full meltdown situation with a big area of East coast USA affected. They were very lucky. Even if you look at all the alternate fuels for thermal electricity production eg. Gas, hydrogen, biomass etc they all have inherent problems of transport, volatility, corrosiveness and also explosive tendencies. Renewables are intermittent low grade electricity – they are simply not suitable for powering modern economies. Which brings me back to coal. A coal fired electricity plant is relatively uncomplicated. The fuel is relatively inert in its native form. It doesn’t need pipelines to transport and doesn’t emit radiation. Coal fired electricity plants are basically huge steam kettles hooked up to a generator. If the supply comes from an open cut mine (eg. Brown coal in Victoria, Australia) there are far less OHS problems that come with mining underground for other forms of coal. In fact, the original architects and engineers of the Victorian power grid must have thought all their Xmas’s had come at once. Readily accessible brown coal with hundreds of years of supply, so build the power plant alongside eliminating supply problems. Then the major population needing that supply (Melbourne) is relatively close. But it gets even better for coal because with some relatively simple added technology you can make them super critical:ultra super critical or even HELE standard. So way more efficient and also very clean. Now, that the French are looking at their declining nuclear power they must look at places like Australia and say “sacré bleu – what are you silly Aussies doing?”
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Just as energy shortages have been planned for us, so have food shortages.
Governments are openly admitting high and rising prices for food and energy and as I have mentioned many times, people are being gradually conditioned to accept eating insects.
E.g. see https://www.wionews.com/world/as-part-of-alternative-protein-research-primary-school-kids-in-wales-to-be-offered-edible-insects-483813
By the way, the politically correct term for insects as food is “alternative proteins”.
You may wish to put aside some storable food supplies in long term non-refrigerated storage.
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“The cracks tend to show up very close to welds at the pipes’ elbows, most likely because of a vortex of hot and cold water, and possibly because of how the welds were done.”
That is called ‘the HAZ’ or heat affected zone, if you don’t get the weld preparation, preheat and post weld stress relief right, troubles will ensue.
Shortcuts the likely cause.
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It looks like Dr Finkel and others are going down the Hydrogen energy DISASTER path and they fully expect the new Albo clown govt to create certainty for this massive change to new so called “Green hydrogen”.
But doesn’t “certainty” actually means all sorts of subsidies or gifts to the new billionaire yappers and con merchants?
And how will this help our poorest and elderly citizens across Australia? And the higher energy costs will also penalise small business and therefore limit future job opportunities as well.
Electrifying everything using Green hydrogen is the extremist’s wet dream and don’t we already have plenty of coal, gas etc and isn’t our entire SH NET zero anyway?
IOW why waste billions of $ FOREVER to fix NOTHING and ACHIEVE nothing?
https://www.standard.net.au/story/7760105/finkel-in-call-to-electrify-everything/
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If Finkel is calling for something… you can basically guarantee its the wrong call !
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I would like to know how they are going to convert hydrogen gas back into electricity. Gas turbines are limited to around 5% usage because the high flame temperature of hydrogen destroys the blades. It might be used in the old boiler plants (taking care not to overheat the steam pipes) but it doesn’t look that good a solution. No good in diesels so South Australia had better go back to candles.
The whole rush into “things that will save us” based on the idea that CO2 controls the climate without thinking first reminds me of the old bushies story of The New Chum who picked up what he thought was a stick to hit what he thought was a snake. Or at the same level with our politicians the old Goon Show line “he lept onto the horse and galloped off madly in all direction”.
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GN3,
Remember Labor have about 6 months of blaming the last government up their sleeve, well 12 months with the current high level of stupidity prevalent within the Australian voting public. I believe we are now standing at the event horizon of climate change stupidity brought to you by labor/green cultism. As bad as this process will be it has to unfold so people will finally understand just how deranged some people are.
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Plus, hydrogen embrittlement of metals such as high strength steel the hydrogen contacts will be a huge problem.
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Fuel cells .
….Big ones
……lots od them
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Replied yesterday…but it disapeared ?
Answer…….Fuel Cells .
Big ones
Many of them
At huge cost and low efficiency !
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Which type?
The ones using concentrated phosphoric acid (heavy so up to 10 tons) with oxygen feed as well. These are existing technology in use.
There may be other types known that are in use, but I haven’t kept up with this.
I realise the answer is proton exchange membrane types but are any in regular use yet?
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have emerged as a leading energy conversion technology for stationary, transportation, and portable electronic applications. The wide popularity of PEMFCs as an alternative power source is owing to its low temperature operation (<100°C), remarkable efficiency (theoretical efficiency of 83%),
However, the commercialization of PEM fuel cells suffers from two major hurdles, that is, high cost and low durability.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/proton-exchange-membrane-fuel-cell
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Even in the space industry, few people are prepared to use liquid hydrogen except NASA because it is a nightmare to handle although good rocket fuel. SpaceX Raptor engines use liquid methane and liquid oxygen, much less of a nightmare.
To think millions of cars, trucks and other ground transport vehicles are going to use this fuel is complete insanity and represents a total disconnect from reality. Alternative methods of storage such as metal hydrides or compressed gas are not practical.
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“The eyes of the new energy world are fixed on Australia. Our trade partners are closely watching how we develop this market,” Dr Simon said.
“But the hydrogen economy can’t wait for market forces alone to drive decarbonisation. We need policy certainty and coordination to get this market to scale.”
It’s shorthand for, ‘our International minders/handlers are cracking the whip on us so we are panicking and have to introduce some stupid legislation to get the ball rolling, it won’t do it on it’s own.’
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scientific law of clown world:
for every disaster scenario simulation there is an equal and identical orchestrated event.
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‘The big test will come when temperatures start to fall toward the end of the year.’
Accurate forecast, but more proof is required.
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Gordo I don’t think your logic is quite right.
The accuracy of a forecast is cannot be determined until the forecast date so it is premature to say that the forecast is accurate. And the relevant proof will only be available on the forecast date.
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I was talking to myself out loud.
But the good news is that La Nina will be around for the European winter, which means it will be colder.
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Temperature falling from those experienced in May to those in December in France, could not be anything but certain. The only way for that not to occur would be for Earth to disappear. In that case, no humans will be around to care.
The timeline for repair should see some units back in service by boreal winter. There may be more that need to be repaired as they continue their second 10 year inspection cycle.
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The Big Freeze of 1963 might be on the cards.
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As a boy living in Kent, England I remember it very well. My Mum remembers the Big Freeze of 1947. YouTube has some good stuff on this.
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The 1947 occasion was snowier and in 1963 it was just freezing. A blocking high was bringing polar weather.
When it happens again the Thames should freeze further towards London, even though the hydrology has changed. No longer do coal fired power stations dot its bank.
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https://i.pinimg.com/736x/50/53/61/505361788619b86c861214c28e406c3f.jpg
In Yorkshire
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The climate war, it’s time for a tactical retreat
Author Cassie of Sydney
Posted on May 31, 2022
I will preface this piece by saying that I believe climate change to be the biggest scam in human history. At its core it is pure unadulterated Marxism, a religious cult dressed up as science, a theological and ideological tool constructed to destroy the West. It is designed to destroy humanity because it is fundamentally a cult that is anti-human. It is the climax of a philosophy of anti-humanism began by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I always laugh out loud when I hear climate cultists cry out about “our children’s future” because the plain truth of the climate scam is that it is about denying a future to our children. We do not have to look far to see the results of the scam, the unfolding tragedy in Sri Lanka shows us very clearly how quickly the green climate scam can destroy a country’s economy and now its people are starving.
However, I am going to be very blunt here. I believe that at this moment in time we on the right side of politics need to acknowledge that we have lost the climate change war and we need to engage in a tactical retreat.
Please hear me out.
Even so-called culture warrior Tony Abbott dithered and wimped, he refused to honestly call out the scam, and how was he rewarded? He was knifed twice, first by miserable Malcolm Turnbull and then by a vacuous and empty-headed bimbo backed by hard-left progressives. It was a Greek tragedy of epic proportions.
Our children have been completely indoctrinated and poisoned, because for far too long politicians on the right have done nothing about our education system, bar one or two examples our MSM has been completely corrupted and captured, we’ve had successive Liberal governments do nothing to confront ABC bias and only recently the Morrison government threw even more money at the ABC, thus rewarding a media politburo that is unashamedly and unapologetically hostile to right of centre politics, politicians and mainstream Australia. So now the die has now been cast, the damage has been done and the inevitable result has ensued, that despite committing to “net zero emissions by 2050”, voters deserted the Coalition anyway on 21 May 2022.
But all these electoral victories will, in the long term, be Pyrrhic victories because it will not be long before the exorbitant power bills arrive, the blackouts begin, the power rationing starts and then all hell will break loose. Nobody will be immune, not even those living in the Teal electorates. And then people will begin to get agitated, very agitated and the revolt against the doctrines of climate change will begin. This means that politicians on the right must start to speak truthfully and bluntly about how renewables such as solar and wind will never provide base load energy. This means that politicians on the right must start to speak truthfully and bluntly about how vested interests are making money from renewables. And the most important message? This means that politicians on the right must start to speak truthfully and bluntly about how, if we want clean reliable energy, then such energy will only come from nuclear power.
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Well said Cassie.
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Cassie of Sydney speaks a lot of sense. I saw this in
the New Catallaxy blog.
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And I replied to Cassie by saying this –
I agree with never give up. Sir Winston Churchill said never, never, ever give up (and with maybe a few more nevers) in that famous wartime Statement.
And Cassie, the other mob have only won a few battles and not the War. The War is not over yet. You have it the wrong way round in your last paragraph.
Yes, and things will Crash and Burn before any change. And that change will come from the population at the end of their tether. By which time the Pollies and all of the others involved in this Scam will be running for their lives.
And after the Crash and Burn, a Phoenix will arise with the World in a far, far better place than it is now.
Here endeth the first lesson of “Nil Illigitimi Carborandum” which roughly translated means, “Don’t let the Bastards Grind you Down”……………………………….
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All good except for the last bit; nuclear is not the best or cheapest option, that’s Coal fired, as the Chinese so ably show.
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Not to worry. The French are only shutting down older reactors to refurbish them over summer so that they’ll be online and ready for action for Europe’s next winter.
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“However, I am going to be very blunt here. I believe that at this moment in time we on the right side of politics need to acknowledge that we have lost the climate change war and we need to engage in a tactical retreat.”
I think you are right, the left are better at this than we are, they are more dishonest, will lie to our faces, are in it for the long run and will commit whatever it takes.
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Australia shivers through the coldest morning of the year as snow falls near Sydney and Melbourne and icy polar blast brings temperatures of -6.1C – here’s the forecast near you
– Parts of Australia have woken up to the coldest temperatures of the year
– Snow fell overnight in Victoria’s Alpine region and in NSW’s Central Tablelands
– Warnings in place for parts of NSW and VIC, with winds reaching up to 100km/h
– Meanwhile, widespread rainfall is pushing across inland NT and SA from WA
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Snow on the hills around here is not exactly unheard of in late May. One year a couple of tourists slid on the snow down a hill nearby to their deaths.
We need to protect some of our citrus fruit, 3 years ago a lot of it was frosted into uselessness.
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Meanwhile, the wind is largely absent. There was a gust of about 20kph about 24 hrs ago but little otherwise. Anenometer reading 0 a lot of the time. It is also raining, little sun and only for short periods.
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Not much wind near Glenrowan but has been sleeting so fairly brisk outside .
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UK NEWS Millions warned of power cuts this winter
Ministers delay closure of coal-fired generators over fear of gas shortages caused by Ukraine war
Six million households could face blackouts this winter because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ministers have been warned, as they look to bolster electricity supplies by prolonging the life of coal and nuclear power stations.
The Times has been told that the government’s “reasonable” worst-case scenario, which has been drawn up by officials from across Whitehall, says that there could be widespread gas shortages if Russia goes further in cutting off supplies to the EU.
A minister said the briefing suggested that electricity could have to be rationed for up to six million homes at the start of next year, mostly at peaks in the morning and evening. The curbs could last more than a month, causing energy prices to rise again and leaving GDP lower than forecast for years to come.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has written to the owners of Britain’s three remaining coal-fired power stations to ask them to stay open for longer than planned. They were due to close in September under plans to phase them out entirely by 2024 to reduce emissions.
Hinkley Point B, a nuclear power station in Somerset, could also be given an 18-month extension. The plant, which is nearly 50 years old, was due to be decommissioned this summer. Britain buys less than 4 per cent of its gas directly from Russia but is connected to European markets. The EU typically gets 40 per cent of its gas from Russia and its members have continued paying it hundreds of millions of euros a day since the invasion.
Officials are also said to have drawn up an even bleaker strategy in the event of Russia cutting off gas entirely to the EU. It suggests that energy blackouts could start in December and last for three months, with blackouts both on weekdays and weekends.
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What utter tripe this is. It has ZERO to do with Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is ALL to do with woke policy that makes UK totally dependent on fairy farts for its power generation.
James Watt and a few others who developed the basis of the industrial economy throughout the world would be laughing at the silliness.
England can have all the coal they want if they were prepared to pay the current price off $470/tonne. Just need to to build a few coal fired power stations and coal unloaders.
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Britain has one of the biggest coal-fired power stations in Europe – Drax. 3900 MW – not too shabby. Which in these climate-befuddled days mostly fuels itself with wood pellets sourced from North American or Russian forests – since this is classed as ” renewable ” and thus not counted under EU carbon emissions targets. Drax sits on plenty of underground coal deposits, as I understand it.
It seems to be a political issue. Westminster has gone green.
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Major, major blackouts are the only leverage that will cure this green silliness, it’s not such a bad thing, as long as you aren’t caught up in it, the poms pain might be our gain.
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‘No simple mechanism’ to take pressure off gas prices: Chalmers
Gas development about science, not philosophy: Chalmers
There is no simple mechanism the government can pull to take pressure off gas prices, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says.
“This spike in the price has a number of causes, and it does not have a single solution. If there was one, somebody would have reached for it,” he said, flagging discussions with regulators, Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Resources Minister Madeleine King.
“There is no single solution – whether it is liquid fuels, whether it is the gas price, the electricity price – each of these are concerning on their own, but together, potentially, extremely challenging to the Australian economy.”
Jim Chalmers has been asked where Labor sits philosophically on the development of gas fields like Beetaloo and Narrabri.
The treasurer responds he doesn’t see it as an issue of philosophy, but science.
“Where it is safe to do it and the environmental impacts have been considered, of course,” he said.
“That is my position. It is based on science and evidence, and there are, obviously, a range of views in the community about gas developments.“
Chalmers thought the Northern Territory’s handling of the issue under the Gunner government was a good guide.
“The Gunner government, when Gunner was chief minister, recognised community concerns about about some of those developments and had a proper look at all of the considerations and came to a conclusion.”
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Nuclear power, whatever else it is, is not cheap. France does not have particularly cheap electricity, at least for households. My French friend preferred to freeze in his flat in central Paris rather than spend money on heating. Then there is the capex. A nuclear plant budgeted at $5 billion might well end up costing $25 billion and taking years extra to complete. Decommissioning one spreads over 20 years requiring hundreds of workers at CFMEU rates, say $200k p.a. Huge regulatory hurdles. NIMBYism. No point in siting it 300 kms out of Alice Springs; the power is needed in the megalopolises of Sydney, Melbourne, and SE Qld. With coal a no-go due to political factors and climate indoctrination, that means gas. Gas gas gas and more gas. Natural, unnatural, onshore, offshore, coal seam, shale, fracked, unfracked, piped, or liquified.
Combined Cycle Gas Turbines, folks. Ready or not.
You better believe it.
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I agree Zane. Like your point about union rates and decommissioning costs, true. I’m no nuclear fan. Gas and coal for me, mainly coal.
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Thas true; coal fired is still by far the cheapest but nuclear is still way way cheaper than bloody renewables.
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Whenever I read “Energy Minister Chris Bowen “- I flinch.
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‘Turtlehead’ Bowen, oh gawd, the fun and games can’t be far away.
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“That is my position. It is based on science and evidence, and there are, obviously, a range of views in the community about gas developments.“
Let’s see, science, 97% agree, check, evidence, it was hot today, check, community views, greens don’t like fossil fuels, check.
Result, no gas for you.
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And that is why nuclear power is not a technical engineering problem … it’s a political trust problem. Pushing a machine well beyond it’s design life is always going to compromise reliability, and yet they always insist on doing it. No one wants to be the guy who orders the thing to shut down, even though they had decades to plan ahead.
Same happened at Fukushima by the way … the oldest reactor was the one that failed, and it was at the end of its original design life. They had a bunch of other problems as well, but that’s the point of safety margins and allowing for the day when all the unlikely bad things happen at once. That day will come sooner or later.
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“Same happened at Fukushima by the way … the oldest reactor was the one that failed, and it was at the end of its original design life.”
Design life never had anything to do with Fukushima, it was running just fine up until the quake destroyed power lines then the tsunami took out backup generators foolishly sited below water level meters from the sea.
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Jo says coal plants make their cheapest electricity after 30 years, when they’re paid off. Surely their repairs and maintenance are easier than a nuclear plant, that is, you can drag out their life easier than a nuclear. More reason why coal is so good, especially for Australia.
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Exactly.
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Was meant to reply to Tel’s point about life extension beyond the design date.
Greedy and dangerous.
Not much point designing for a specific lifetime when politicians can override the engineering.
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I feel it my duty, since this thread is about the French, to recap a famous Ted Nugent insight.
Mr. Nugent was being interviewed in France, and chastised for hunting deer with bow and arrow.
“What do think the poor deer is thinking when you shoot it with your bow and arrow?”
Mr. Nugent replied …
“Well, I think they’re thinking … ‘what am I gonna eat next, who am I gonna F next, and should I run away’ … they’re alot like the French in that way.”
Americans … we rock so hard. 🙂
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Isn’t the answer more windmills and solar panels ? According to the news it is. That is exactly what they said in NSW, that these coal generators break down and so they’re no good.
Remember when the French would blow up above ground nuclear bombs in the Pacific ? I somehow wish we’d return to those days, though I could never understand that habit.
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It’s shameful that no professional engineering association has warned of the dangers of unreliables.
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As I have mentioned previously engineers do not make policy which is the job of politicians. In the days past engineers had more say in public power generation authorities however with privatisation new priorities are at hand eg keeping old plant running without investing any significant capital expenditure and how to install renewables in a grid not designed to have said renewables. The grid managers then realised that engineers need to work out how to compensate the grid disruption caused by renewables. Engineers duly oblige to propose to provide such bandaid solutions.
It is a CLM (career limiting move) to tell said managers of privatised power suppliers, grid managers and politicians that their policy settings and patch-up decisions are a pile of crap.
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It would be shameful if they did not look after the interest of their members.
There are a myriad of examples of people who have lost employment for not endorsing the scam.
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I love it when the Greenfoll dreams and desires all come true: no nuclear, no fossil fuels and no electricity.
I will now lobby for no oil, no plastics and and 5 x intoxinations for every green cultist.
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Wondering what a Greenfoll and an intoxination is.
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” Half the French Nuclear fleet is down”.
Bit like their Naval fleet, you pick which century.
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Dr. Li-Meng Yan – LEAKED PLA Audio – CCP’s Plan to Invade the World & Australian Federal Election
Dr. Li-Meng Yan joins us to discuss recent leaked audio from whistleblowers present at a People’s Liberation Army meeting discussing preparing Chinese citizens for war, and their planned invasion of Taiwan and beyond.
Dr. Yan also discusses a call she received in April advising her that Labor was going to win the Australian Federal Election, and that there is an infiltrator of the Australian government, linked to the CCP [@31.00]
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whoops, forgot link
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“and that there is an infiltrator of the Australian government, linked to the CCP [@31.00]”
Er, that would be half the Labor Party.
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500 carbon credits if you can guess who (no cheating).
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Dr. John Campbell & Jessica Henderson on the High Number of Non-COVID Excess Deaths in Queensland, Australia.
“Right up until the end of 2021, there were only 7 confirmed COVID deaths in Queensland in that time period, and yet there’s actually excess deaths of 3,000 for that same time period. So we have a large number of excess deaths representing an almost 10% spike in deaths over the baseline.”
link
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Insurance companies usually have a good handle on this sort of thing.
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UAH May is in, a scarily warm +0.17ºC
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Daily Mail announces potential power cuts over next 24hrs for millions of Australians. And yes lead suspect the Ukraine war with unnamed “perfect storm of factors” the secondary comment.
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[…] By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 1, 2022 https://joannenova.com.au/2022/06/half-the-french-nuclear-fleet-is-down/ […]
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[…] By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 1, 2022 https://joannenova.com.au/2022/06/half-the-french-nuclear-fleet-is-down/ […]
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