I was asked during an interview recently what my most controversial opinion on energy was. And while I would like to think I have more than one controversial opinion, because otherwise what’s the fun, I’d like to dive more into the answer I gave, which was about the ramp rates of nuclear power.
Key questions: how does solar PV fit into power grids with a lot of nuclear? And conversely, how does nuclear fit with high renewables systems?
References and recommended reading:

Residential Solar PV Systems in the Carolinas: Opportunities and Outcomes (2016)
Example of Nuclear Power ramp rate for South Korea APR1400 (2021)
Overview of Nuclear Ramping Constraints by Argonne National Labs and MIT (2020)
EIA visual of new capacity being added to grid in 2023 (2023)
TerraPower
The Duck Curve Illustration

Thanks so much for listening and I hope to see you in future episodes this year. If you have insight on ramp rate concerns other than the Xenon-135 buildup, please let me know!

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