Biden Proposes Plan to Save Diablo // France's Nuclear Woes Worsen European Energy Crisis // Our World in Data: Nuclear Energy's Miniscule Land Footprint

Biden Proposes Plan to Save Diablo

The Department of Energy laid out its Civilian Nuclear Credits program earlier this year. The program is meant to save nuclear plants in danger of closing due to economic reasons, e.g. they're in an electricity spot market that structurally favors renewables and natural gas. But now it seems the DOE wants to work with PG&E in California to shoehorn Diablo Canyon, which is in danger of closing for political reasons, into the program.

Bloomberg reports, "The Energy Department suggested that it would eliminate a requirement that a nuclear reactor applying for funds not recover more than 50% of its costs from regulated rates or contracts. The costs of PG&E’s Diablo Canyon plant are recovered through bill charges to its customers."

That California, the birthplace of the anti-nuclear movement, now seeks to save Diablo reveals just how serious its grid rot had become--especially because its governor, Gavin Newsom, is never one to stick his neck out.

Yet confusion remains: if Diablo is profitable, why should it have access to any of this money? Or, is it just a convenient way for Newsom to save the plant while washing his hands of it at the same time? And what will the money be for? Will voters agree with the anti-nuclear movement's likely argument that this seems like a cynical handout to everyone's least favorite utility?

Regardless, federal attention is both a boon to Diablo Canyon and the pro-nuclear movement that has sprouted up around the plant.

France's Nuclear Woes Worsen European Energy Crisis

France usually exports electricity from its impressive nuclear fleet to the rest of Europe. But that's no longer true. "The cost of electricity in France jumped, adding to Europe’s gas woes, as depressed nuclear output squeezes the market," reports Bloomberg.

Corrosion problems are the culprit. But the corrosion problems themselves stem from decades of neglect.

Like many countries in the developed world, France has staffed its economic and energy ministries with ecologists and people hostile to "hard" energy. So, instead of stewarding France's nuclear fleet, which is responsible for the greatest electricity decarbonization in human history, France has ignored its fleet and turned toward renewables.

The result? French nuclear "has been plagued for decades by a lack of fresh investment. Experts say it has lost valuable engineering expertise as people retired or moved on, with repercussions for EDF’s ability to maintain the existing power stations — or build ones to replace them," reports the New York Times.

Now, the bill for that is coming due. "France’s nuclear reactors are operating at less than half their full capacity and this week has produced the least electricity at this time of year since at least 2008," reports Bloomberg. "The country, where warm weather is already making it tougher to cool the fleet of reactors, is importing power from neighboring countries like the UK, which historically has taken energy from France."

The bright side is that this energy crisis seems to have made the case for nuclear energy obvious. Macron favors the technology and wants more reactors--as did Le Pen when she was running against him. Perhaps this will also inspire France to take better care of its existing fleet. Such optimism must be weighed against the fact that Macron just lost his majority to a coalition between the left and the greens, both of which seem to be anti-nuclear.

Our World in Data: Nuclear Energy's Miniscule Land Footprint

Our World in Data has just released a new chat that compares land ruse across electricity sources.

They focused on life-cycle assessments to provide a more complete picture. That means they included the following:

• The land use of the power plant while in operation

• "The land used to mine the materials for its construction."

• "Mining for energy fuels, either used directly (i.e. the coal, oil, gas, or uranium used in supply chains) or indirectly (the energy inputs used to produce the materials)."

• Grid connections.

• Land use for waste storage.

Nuclear uses even less land than rooftop solar, which might surprise some people. "Per unit of electricity" nuclear "needs 27-times less land compared to coal; 18-times less than hydropower plants; and 34-times less than solar PV," OWID writes.

You'll notice in the chart that wind has its own section. Here's what OWID had to say about wind:

"First, offshore wind takes up space, but it’s marine, not land area. Second, onshore wind is different from other electricity sources because you can use the land between turbines for other activities, such as farming. This is not the case for a coal, gas, or nuclear plant. This means the land use of wind farms is highly variable."

One might find that more or less convincing. Separating out "marine" areas from land use would be a surprising take to the fishing industry, for example. Still, this is a helpful visualization of the trade-offs between energy sources.

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Word of the Day

two-phase separator

A vessel that separates the well fluids into gas and total liquid. A two-phase separator can be horizontal, vertical or spherical. The liquid (oil, emulsion) leaves the vessel at the bottom through a level-control or dump valve. The gas leaves the vessel at the top, passing through a mist extractor to remove the small liquid droplets in the gas. (source)

Crom's Blessing