this post was submitted on 30 May 2024
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102
US Slows Plans To Retire Coal-Fired Plants as Power Demand From AI Surges (news.slashdot.org)
submitted 1 month ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] Ski@kbin.social 23 points 1 month ago (15 children)

I don't understand, clean nuclear power has never been easier. Why not just build some current gen nuke plants?

[–] placatedmayhem@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (3 children)

As I understand it, planning new, grid-scale nuclear power plants takes 10-20 years. While this isn't a reason not to start that process now, it does mean something needs to fill the demand gap until the nuke plants (and other clean sources) come online to displace the dirty generation, or demand has to be artificially held down, through usage regulation or techniques like rolling blackouts, all of which I would imagine is pretty unpalatable.

[–] bamboo@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I think it’s fair to predict energy consumption will continue to rise. With that timescale, it’s basically “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today”. Doesn’t solve the immediate issue, but if we keep not starting new nuclear projects, it’s going to remain an issue forever.

[–] placatedmayhem@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oh, I totally agree -- didn't mean to give any impression otherwise. Filling the energy demand gap as quickly as possible with the least impactful generation source should be very high on societal goals, IMO. And it seems like that is what's happening, mostly. Solar, wind, and storage are the largest share of what's being brought up this year:

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/chart-nearly-all-new-us-power-plants-built-in-2024-will-be-clean-energy

[–] bamboo@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago

That’s an amazing chart!

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