this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
779 points (99.1% liked)

Science Memes

10671 readers
3463 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Zink@programming.dev 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Given the up-front cost of any kind of reactor, I don’t think the concept of a usage-based electric bill goes away as long as it’s corporations competing for customers. Maybe eventually it would be like ISPs where it’s a flat fee depending on the size of your connection. I guess it could be totally unmetered then.

Like so many things, it gets a lot simpler if it’s the government supplying the service.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

It's not too cheap to meter even when provided as a public service. Nuclear is more expensive than battery + solar, more expensive than wind, more expensive than coal

"Too cheap to meter" was a lie that ignored costs of safety and decommissioning.

[–] Zink@programming.dev 1 points 2 hours ago

Yeah I agree, and you still hear that BS about fusion power, that it will be an unlimited source of cheap/free clean energy.

I guess I could imagine scenarios where power is not metered and is supported via taxes, maybe in a scenario where citizens have a right to energy just like a right to healthcare. It’s not free by any means, but the people who make the most money and thus benefit the most from the infrastructure end up paying into it the most. And the truly poor would get free (to them) electricity.