Pocket-Sized Nuke Generators!!

 This is interesting for Wisconsin.

The chair of UW-Madison’s Department of Engineering Physics says nuclear energy is at a “pivot point” as development progresses on new types of reactors. 

Paul Wilson spoke yesterday during a Madison event hosted by the Customers First Coalition focused on new nuclear technologies. He highlighted the potential for small modular reactors, which are being advanced by a Portland company called NuScale Power. ...

...Because the NuScale modular reactors are smaller, that means the initial investment required is much lower. Plus, a utility or energy cooperative can build its first reactor, begin generating revenue from that installation, and use those funds to pay for adding others within a single facility, he noted. ...

At this time, about 1/6 of Wisconsin's electricity is generated by nukes.  That's going to change over the next few years if Point Beach gets shuttered (aged out).   Since coal is also being suppressed, the only 'continuous on' reliable power will be natural gas.  

The rest of the demand will have to be handled by windmills and sun-catchers, which are NOT 'continuous on' reliable sources.  Too bad about all those manufacturing plants that need reliable, continuous, energy, eh?  And Oh!  So Sorry!! about your granny's oxygen-generator crapping out along with your air conditioning and desktop computer.  Better luck tomorrow!

About those 'pocket-sized' nukes:

... “The individual components are of a scale that they can be built in a factory and shipped to the site, so there’s much less onsite work to be done, and it’s more of an assembly operation than a construction operation,” he said. “That has important impacts for some of the job opportunities. It may mean that we want to be positioning Wisconsin to be a place where we have those factories.” ...

There's a big industrial facility located in..........Mount Pleasant, right? that is sorely in need of something to do.  And it's close to Lake Koshkonong, which is a viable site for a small nuke!

We have people in this State who know how to make stuff and we will definitely need 'constant-on' reliable power.

Maybe Robin Vos can bestir himself to push this.  Forget LeMahieu, the nepot under-rock-dweller; the State Senator from LaCrosse will do. 

Just so you get the total picture, consider California.

. . . California and clean energy seem like a natural fit. The state’s sunny coastlines, bright deserts, windy mountain passes, and deep river valleys should offer bountiful sources of cheap, all-natural solar, wind, and hydropower. Unfortunately, they don’t. Nightfall, droughts, and windless days take these renewable power sources offline. And when intermittent clean energy sources cannot keep up with demand, California power providers turn to natural gas and electricity imports that backstop the state’s grid, but which are now more expensive due to the insufficient storage and pipeline capacity created by the idealized rush to “cheap” clean energy.

Inefficient energy markets, unpredictable price spikes, unreliable power sources, and a hostile regulatory environment have all contributed to a 40 percent increase in the average California electric bill over the last five years....  Ace of Spades quoting AmGreatness

 FORTY percent!  Granted, Wisconsin's regulatory scheme is not nearly as oppressive as that of Californicate's.  But then, Tony Evers has another term during which he can remedy that, right?