Futurology Today

Here's an AI summary of the video

Small modular reactors (SMRs) aim to make nuclear power faster and cheaper, but they face significant cost overruns and delays, raising doubts about their viability.

Highlights

📈 Growing Interest: Over 25 countries are investing in SMRs due to renewable energy challenges.

🚢 Modular Design: SMRs can be produced in factories and transported, similar to modular furniture.

💰 Cost Issues: Initial estimates for SMR projects often triple or quadruple, making them expensive.

⏳ Delayed Timelines: Projects typically take three times longer to complete than planned.

🌍 Limited Operations: Only three SMRs are operational globally, indicating slow progress.

🔍 Underestimating Costs: Companies may downplay costs to attract investors, complicating financial forecasting.

⚠️ Need for Realism: Acknowledging these challenges is crucial for the future of nuclear power.

Key Insights

🌎 Global Momentum: Many countries are recognizing the need for SMRs due to energy demands and climate goals, but investment alone doesn’t guarantee success.

🏭 Production Challenges: While SMRs promise factory production, the reality of logistics and assembly can complicate this efficiency.

📊 Economic Viability: High costs undermine the argument for SMRs as a cheaper alternative, raising concerns about their competitiveness against renewables.

🕰️ Project Management: The significant delays in SMR projects highlight the need for better project management and realistic timelines in nuclear development.

🔄 Innovation Stagnation: The lack of recent technological advancements in nuclear energy contributes to ongoing reliability and cost issues for SMRs.

📈 Investor Hesitance: The pattern of underestimating costs may deter potential investors, complicating funding for future projects.

🔍 Critical Perspective: Supporting nuclear energy requires an honest assessment of its challenges, ensuring informed decisions in energy policy.

"Anthropic’s latest Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI model has a new feature in public beta that can control a computer by looking at a screen, moving a cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text. The new feature, called “computer use,"

Today, Waymo announced its Series C funding round closed at an oversubscribed amount of $5.6 billion, led, of course, by Alphabet, Inc.

Following its latest investment, the company said it would continue to expand its Waymo-One rideshare services around current cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. In 2025, the company also plans to expand robotaxi rides to Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. The expansion of cities has resulted from an ongoing partnership between Waymo and Uber.

This article references Britain, but I think many of its points make sense with reference to other western economies.

The author is Chris Dillow

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/chris-dillow