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!