SA to get 3 'Koebergs'

[semiautomatix]

Timgaul, as for the "green" options- I'm glad you used the inverted commas...

Solar only works during the day, so you would need lots of big batteries. Wind is just as useless- the best windy sites still only yield a load factor of about 30%- that means a 1MW unit will produce about 8MWh per 24h period- again, lots of batteries. And batteries are about as un-green as you can get. They are the reason the Toyota Prius has a worse carbon footprint than a Jeep Wrangler.

If they could get wave or tide power right it would be the answer. Until then we need to burn fuel. And seeing as the Cape has no natural gas or coal, nuclear is the only way to go. And the new ones are comparatively cheaper than the old ones as they are designed to be inherently safe rather than needing lots of expensive safety systems added on, which makes the designs simpler and more compact.

And w1z4rd, they probably will be built by the world leaders in PWR technology, the French. Koeberg was built by the French using a modified Westinghouse (US) design.

After reading an interesting article I came across these stats:

Solar power 1.7-10.3 GC/kWh (grams of carbon per kilowatt/hour)
Nuclear power 3-6 GC/kWh
Wind 10 GC/kWh
natural gas 105 GC/kWh for
lignit (‘dirty’ coal) 228 GC/kWh

 

[BCO]

*google is your friend* :erm:

No **** allantjie? I've googled this before and there seem to be a lot of varying answers. What the treehuggers say is a lot different from what the nuke lobbyists say.

 

[BCO]

Timgaul, as for the "green" options- I'm glad you used the inverted commas...

Solar only works during the day, so you would need lots of big batteries. Wind is just as useless- the best windy sites still only yield a load factor of about 30%- that means a 1MW unit will produce about 8MWh per 24h period- again, lots of batteries. And batteries are about as un-green as you can get. They are the reason the Toyota Prius has a worse carbon footprint than a Jeep Wrangler.

This is a blatant piece of disinformation and has been repeatedly disproved. FUD never dies... *sigh*

Also, there are other ways to store energy. Pumped water, molten salt etc.

 

[TooFastTim]

Correct. Uranium is running out. The answer lies in fast breeders which produce more fuel than they consume.

Problems are a) Eskom is practically bankrupt. It doesn't have enough money to re-commission the mothballed six-packs, let alone finish the new Medupi power plant. b) the IAEA has expressed extreme reservations about the quality of operating staff at Koeberg.

 

[Alan]

b) the IAEA has expressed extreme reservations about the quality of operating stuff at Koeberg.

Yeah that is a worry.