An argument that nuclear power makes the climate crisis worse
Wow, what a simplistic look at nuclear vs renewables. They don&#x27;t even begin to look into the &quot;hidden&quot; costs of renewable energy. They fail to mention or include the costs of new transmissions lines, bringing new mines onboard, building grid storage, etc.<p>If we forgo nuclear power the only other currently viable carbon free, stable, energy source is hydro power, which has huge environmental costs and immense public resentment&#x2F;push back. For example look at the James bay hydro project[1]. 11,500 km2 of land flooded, intense protest from the Cree and other first nations as well as conservation groups, increases in mercury levels in fish populations, etc. Expanding hydro power enough to handle base load energy use is unlikely, due to the above costs and push back.<p>So if we can&#x27;t expand hydro or nuclear then we have to go all in on wind and solar plus grid storage. We could use pumped hydro but that brings about many of the same costs&#x2F;problems as hydro power. That leaves us with over building wind and solar, and adding huge amounts of transmission lines and batteries to account for the variability. Add in the switch from ICE cars to electric and the amount of new metals needed is going to be immense.<p>I&#x27;ve also noticed that every time a new transmission line or mine is purposed in the United States their is immense push back from environmental and conservation groups, and from the public as a whole. For examples of this look at the fight over adding new transmissions lines in southern Wisconsin[2] or the intense opposition to mining the Duluth complex[3] in northern Minnesota[4]. The Duluth complex is the largest untapped copper and nickel resource in the world and Polymet has been trying to get permits for well over a decade to mine. Copper and nickel are greatly needed for renewable energy and batteries, and it could still be another 4 or 5 years if it ever happens.<p>Not using nuclear energy is just going to massively exacerbate the transmission line and mining problems as well as increase the prices of renewable energy. Wind and solar is &quot;cheap&quot; because we don&#x27;t factor in the added transmission lines, and natural gas peaker planets needed to  currently make it happen. Also many of the groups pushing for wind and solar + batteries also happen to be against adding additional mines and transmission lines required to make it happen, and honestly you cant really blame them, mines can pollute local water supplies and transmission lines are ugly.<p>All and all a balanced approach is probably the cheapest and most viable path forward, solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, grid storage all working together on the grid.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;James_Bay_Project" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;James_Bay_Project</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;madison.com&#x2F;wsj&#x2F;news&#x2F;local&#x2F;govt-and-politics&#x2F;cardinal-hickory-creek-wisconsin-residents-speak-out-against-proposed-power-line&#x2F;article_6ceb0747-9bdc-5c12-b7d0-18e8d2d3209c.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;madison.com&#x2F;wsj&#x2F;news&#x2F;local&#x2F;govt-and-politics&#x2F;cardina...</a><p>[3]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.miningminnesota.com&#x2F;duluth-complex&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.miningminnesota.com&#x2F;duluth-complex&#x2F;</a><p>[4]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.greatlakesnow.org&#x2F;2020&#x2F;06&#x2F;polymet-copper-nickel-mine-litigation-indigenous-environmental-groups&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.greatlakesnow.org&#x2F;2020&#x2F;06&#x2F;polymet-copper-nickel-...</a>