Ryan Copoper opines that over the past several years, nuclear power has been shown to be pro-climate change. Adversaries oppose it, while climate trolls argue it is the savior of mankind, only held up by ignorance and bias. Contrary to Cooper obfuscation, nuclear power is not as dangerous as it is often feared by ignorant adversaries while the trolls fail to acknowledge the major problem with traditional nuclear power - its high cost. And even this is based on ignorance as well. The cost builds a fortress for generating power lasting more than 50 years. The initial cost then becomes understandable when spread over such time.
However, there are reasons to hope there could be a way to end opposition. The answer, Cooper claims, lies in moving away from existing nuclear technology, although there is nothing wrong with it, and towards general research, a ploy often used to postpone. The theoretical benefits of non-standard nuclear technologies are very great, but these technologies are not currently in a workable form, which is another wrongism by Copper. He says more research could pay off handsomely, which is correct nonetheless.
The DOE is moving in just this direction, with $60 million recently awarded towards new nuclear research. That is a good step, but an insufficient one. We ought to be spending much more. The main problem, Cooper claims, with traditional nuclear power plants is that they are too big. He does not seem to realize that big means economy of scale ... and lower consumer price of electricity.
Existing nuclear technology is based on uranium fission, which requires enormous generators to work properly... because that is the scale. Much of what Cooper drones on about is wrong, but some points concerning renewable have some merit. This piece is worth the read if you look for the Cooper bias and place in contrast to what is fact and what is BS. The discussion about new technology represents upgrading and progress, especially about SMRs and thorium.
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