Reply #3: Here is my crude comparison of nuclear and solar. [View All]

I posted it on a nuclear thread that was unrec'd out of existence. So I'm posting it here. It is a very rough first stab, but cannot be far from the truth. I might mention that I'm intimately familiar with Diablo Canyon. And it doesn't take much to know just what is involved in solar. Having said that, here's Watts versus complexity and footprint area of a fairly comparable facility.



40MW takes up 540 acres. (And of course when it's night time, there is no generation. That's what tidal and wind are for.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldpolenz_Solar_Park

Diablo Canyon produces a GW.

It is located on close to 1000 acres.

So as for area taken up, they are not significantly different.


Looking at the two facilities, it definitely appears that Diablo Canyon takes up a world of resources more than the photovoltaic farm. I've been inside Diablo Canyon. I have seen it. It is not trivial, like photovoltaics.

And then there is "disposal" of nuclear waste. And accidents. It's not much of a comparison in terms of steady state power. One shuts off when the sun goes down. It's also not much of a comparison in terms of safety and health. That is now very obvious.