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this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
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You won't hear any complains from me about getting rid of the asinine "green" fuel ethanol. It's just an excuse to funnel farm subsidies to monsanto.
The issue replacing all of those fields is the interconnecting wiring and the limitations of inverters with shifting loads.
You remember trying to start a pump of any meaningful size on the boat while on the diesel resulted in the shitty 100 year old governor shutting it down? Kinda the same with solar panels. When a massive load shift occurs, the resulting transient can force anything with an inverter to trip, since they take voltage from the utility side usually.
Big spinning machines with a lot of momentum smooth out that spike with their rotational interia. The SSTGs and SSMGs were that big rotating hunk of metal for the boat.
Water storage would be a safer and cheaper option. Basically build two reservoirs at different elevations. Stick a hydroelectric plant in the middle. During low demand an electric pump pumps the water back up to the high reservoir, and when demand spikes you open the spillway and turn on the hydroelectric plant. We've done this before.
Edit: oh and while I do know what you're talking about, I never actually experienced it. I joined the Navy to see the world and they said "you're going to South Carolina, and staying there!" I was born on a carrier, and toured a few while I was in, but I've never been on a boat.
Pumped hydro is alright where you can build it. We have some out here in Washington. It has the same hazards as dams, but you can float out solar panels on top to reduce evaporation.
Like I said, right tool for the right job. Southern California could benefit significantly from nuclear powered desalination. Very High Temperature gas cooled reactors can desalinate without even the need for all the Reverse osmosis infrastructure, by splitting the water into H2 and O2 directly and recombining it, doubling as green Hydrogen production.
I studied them a bit on college before joining the Navy about 10 years ago now.
I also see Navy nuke and assume submarines, but I was also an RC instructor up at NPTU ballston, so I ran into the surface nukes too. It's odd how the experiences are so vastly different despite being the same job.
Funny you should mention SoCal. I live in Imperial Beach. Nuclear is pretty much a non-starter in this area after what we've dealt with with Diablo Canyon and San Onofre. GE fucked up good with those reactors. Especially since Fukushima happened, even uttering the phrase "nuclear power" down here will get a pack of rabid locals on you.
I mean, Diablo Canyon powers like 10% of California's grid alone. I am aware of the fault line issue, but it seems a little odd to propagate a very situational problem to every reactor that could be built. I also know that area is quite wealthy, and the wealthy are really good at being NIMBYs but still want the benefits. See the high speed rail project for further details.
It's kind of our thing here in the US to try literally everything except the right answer, but still get to the right answer. I suspect anti nuclear sentiment will continue to fall the further we get from Fukushima.
Yeah NIMBYS are the rabid locals. As you said even the widely popular HSR has been delayed for a couple decades because of them.
I'm aware that DC still operates, but there's a huge contingent of people that want it offline just like San Onofre.
Yeah I remember when DCs license was up for renewal and despite all the backlash they had to approve it because there wasn't anywhere else to get that amount of power.
It's funny because California buys nuclear (and solar) power from Nevada anyway, so their choices are build nuclear power or buy it.