Renew Economy: "Nuclear goes backwards, again, as wind and solar enjoy another year of record growth." Ironically, American polling shows growing support for nuclear power. But even with unprecedented state + federal subsidies the much-promoted nuclear renaissance is an epic fail. "The nuclear renaissance of the late-2000s was a bust due to the Fukushima disaster and catastrophic cost overruns with reactor projects." But the current renaissance is also stuck in the mud with a couple of flat tires + no spares—not just in the US but globally. "There were five reactor start-ups and five permanent closures in 2023 with a net loss of 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of capacity." And only 6 reactor construction starts in 2023, five of them Chinese. "Due to the ageing of the reactor fleet, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) anticipates the closure of 10 reactors (10 GW) per year from 2018 to 2050." Thus just to maintain current nuclear output, the industry would need an annual average of 10 reactor construction starts + 10 reactor startups (grid connections). Small modular reactors [MSRs] receive endless hype, but achieved neither construction starts nor startups in 2023. "The biggest SMR news in 2023 was NuScale Power’s decision to abandon its flagship project in Idaho despite securing astronomical subsidies amounting to around $4 billion...from the US government." The International Energy Agency (IEA) has just released its ‘Renewables 2023’ report + it shows a startling contrast from the global nuclear malaise. Nuclear power suffered a net loss of 1.7 GW capacity in 2023, whereas renewable capacity additions amounted to a record 507 GW, almost 50 percent higher than 2022." The reality of nuclear power is that it accounts for a declining 9.2% share of electricity generation worldwide, whereas renewables have grown to 30.2%. Faster, easier, cheaper. Decentralized from corporate + governmental control. Democratizing the grid.
