this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
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195
France's Power Prices Jump 22% as Heatwave Trims Nuclear Output (oilprice.com)
submitted 2 days ago by sanitation@lemmy.today to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

But I was told nuclear would always work, regardless of weather!

Well, at least it sounds like solar would be a great complement. Again.

[–] douglasg14b@lemmy.world 8 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (2 children)

Not sure if joking or just ignorance? Both?

  1. The nuclear capacity losses are because of environmental regulations, not because of inherent issues with nuclear.
    • Regulations restrict discharge of cooled water above 30°C into waterways, and they are responsible for the riverway temperature downstream of them. Since the waterways are warmer during a heat wave and the nuclear plant is responsible for the temperature of that waterway, they cannot discharge as much warm water into that waterway.
  2. Solar doesn't work at night, and sufficiently scalable energy storage technology doesn't yet exist.
  3. Solar loses considerable capacity as ambient temperature increases. At 40°C ambient, you're talking about a 15% or higher reduction in efficiency. Which would be HIGHER than the ~12% reduction in nuclear capacity Europe hmis seeing
[–] sunbeam60@feddit.uk 7 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Guys, guys, it’s not an OR, it’s an AND.

We need both nuclear AND renewables.

[–] douglasg14b@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

Oh of course, I'm not arguing against solar. Just arguing against dumb takes.

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 0 points 10 hours ago

How about neither?

Well, joking a bit, but also serious. Nuclear has often been presented as working reliably regardless of circumstances, but that's clearly not entirely true, because they require water. That is an inherent issue with nuclear, and one that isn't always accounted for. This isn't the first time I've heard about a nuclear reactor having to shut down because cooling water wasn't available for some reason.

In the past, people have often taken the availability of water for granted, but that's clearly not something we can afford anymore. See also the issues with water being needed to cool data centers. Combine that with rising temperatures and drought.