Sabine Hossenfelder about Nuclear Power

I think Hossenfelder is underestimating the problem of nuclear waste. Finland opening one "next year" is evidence that we weren't ready to handle it 20 years ago. Maybe nuclear could have been a key part of dealing with climate change if we'd pursued it two decades ago, but people were rightly concerned at the time.

In the meantime, what happened was everything else Hossenfelder discusses. The price of solar and wind went down, and the price of nuclear went up. By the time we could even begin to discuss nuclear, it stopped being a solution.

I concur with Hossenfelder's overall argument, and there's no reason to quibble about that point, except that people tend to paint environmentalists as hypocrites for not being gung ho on nuclear. Carbon isn't the only problem that faces the environment.

If that next generation of nuclear plants can contribute, fantastic. I'll assume that they're well thought out and well planned for, rather than being a massive boondoggle as some nuclear plants have proven to be in the past. But any argument that "nuclear will fix it eventually, so stop building wind and solar" is always going to be fossil fuel industry FUD.

"What speaks in favor of nuclear energy is that it’s climate friendly, has a small land use, and creates power on demand."

"What speaks against it is that it’s expensive and ultimately not renewable."

It's too late to change the outcome now. We're all screwed!