Consider these headlines from recent days:
“France and Switzerland shut down nuclear power plants amid scorching heatwave,” was the July 3rd headline on Euronews. As the piece explained: “To cool down, nuclear power plants pump water from local rivers or the sea, which they then release back into water bodies at a high temperature. However, Europe’s ongoing heatwave means that the water pumped by nuclear sites is already very hot, impacting the ability of nuclear plants to use it to cool down. On top of this, nuclear sites run the risk of posing a dangerous threat to local biodiversity, by releasing water which is too hot into rivers and seas.”
edit: it seems like there’s gonna be a very negative response to this article so to respond to all of them in advance. If I were you I would question why this article supporting non extractive means of green energy over extractive forms of green energy offending your sensibilities so much.
Sure, this piece can’t tell it’s Fahrenheit from it’s kWh and God forbid anybody mentions power. It is of relevance, though, that nuclear is very sensitive as a power source and is hampered in many ways. It’s almost as if to be able to count on 1 reactor at any given time, 2 must be built.
Dont get me wrong, it is obvious that a mix is needed, because all sources have their own shortcomings. I just hope nuclear can be built fast enough. I don’t think so, but would gladly be proven wrong☹️. The last European reactor took 15 years to build. The world needs to have transitioned by then.