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Comment by BLKNSLVR | Hacker News Reader

I've read in various places that nuclear power missed its window of opportunity. It would have been great had they been up and running now. But to start building them now would mean they're up and running after wind and solar and batteries have significantly brought the price of power down to a level that makes nuclear power plants unviable.

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Yeah - renewables are quicker to bring online, and allow for faster iteration and innovation. If Australia currently had nuclear power plants I definitely wouldn't be in favour of shutting them down, but it seems a better bet to invest in the renewable energy.

I's better long-term. Storage of nuclear waste is a close-to-unmanageable risk.

Countries that haven't started are lucky because every part of a nuclear power plant is incredibly difficult to get rid of.

> Storage of nuclear waste is a close-to-unmanageable risk

Not in Australia it isn't. We have very large areas of geologically stable, sparsely populated land. Some of it is even already contaminated by nuclear tests in the 50s.

> nuclear power missed its window of opportunity

It didn't 'miss' its window — it was actively shut out by the green movement. One of the great ironies of climate change really.

The green movement does not have that kind of political power, and in any case is split on nuclear. What has stopped nuclear is almost entirely economics.

>The green movement does not have that kind of political power,

Disagree. Ignorance has immense political power.

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