Long term there is the European hydrogen strategy which aims to convert a lot of the current natural gas storage and transportation grid to hydrogen and use that in places that currently use LNG, but this requires inventing new technologies so is not a quick fix.
"China's Haiyang nuclear power plant in Shandong province has begun its sixth heating season, covering an area of nearly 13 million square metres - 500,000 square metres more than last year."
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/chinas-first-com...
Similar plans exist for Finnland. https://thinkatom.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/rauli-parta...
In Switzerland both Beznau and Gösgen nuclear power plant produce district heating in addition to power. Beznau makes available 80 MW of heat to industry and homes over a 130 km network serving 11 towns https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profil...
In Slovakia since 1987, Slovak power utility Slovenské Elektrárne (SE) has been producing heat for Trnava, Leopoldov, Hlohovec and the municipality of Jaslovské Bohunice from the Jaslovské Bohunice NPP. This plant produced 429 GWh of heat in 2023. The high ten-kilometre hot water pipe between the Jaslovské Bohunice power plant and the Trnava heating plant began construction in 1983 and was put into operation at the end of 1987. Heat project for Mochovce NPP is also planed.
https://www.neimagazine.com/news/mochovce-npp-heat-project-u...
There are many plans and ideas for advanced uses of nuclear heat for industrial applications.
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nucl...
Green energy isn't very useful for heating in winter.
The only potential issue here would be if the west had collectively hollowed out its manufacturing base so much as to make surging capacity and capability a generational thing vs. immediate.
Coasting on past success eventually brings stagnation and pain. Hopefully the pain isn’t too horrible for normal folks this time around.
Their EPR2 fleet are getting an enormously large subsidy at 11 cents kWh CFD for 40 years and interest free loans. With the first reactor online in 2038 of everything goes to plan.
How many trillions in subsidies should we handout to new built nuclear power to ”try for real”?
Or we can just build renewables and storage which is the cheapest energy source in human history.
Solar energy isn't the only 'green' energy. The wind, tides, geothermal vents, rivers etc all continue to work as well or better in winter.
Plus there's a lot of room for improvement elsewhere, like insulation.
We do manage quite well to use green energy for heating during winter in Sweden.
Citation very much needed, or "yes it is"
6-7 years. France built 40 its nuclear reactors in a decade, at 6-7 years per reactor.
Right now China is building reactors at 6-7 years per reactor.
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Nearly every Chinese nuclear project that has entered service since 2010 has achieved construction in 7 years or less.
Every single conventional commercial-scale reactor project in Chinese history has achieved completion in under a decade
Since the start of 2022, China has completed an additional five domestic reactor builds, with their completion times ranging from just under five years to just over 7 years. This continues the consistent completion record of Chinese projects even despite potential disruptions from the intervening COVID-19 pandemic.
China successfully constructed six nuclear reactors in Pakistan in around 5.5-6 years each
https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/chinas-impressive-...
--- end quote ---
Thats China. In Europe, this building speed isnt going to happen anytime soon. The knowledge to build nuclear at that scale isn't in the coutry/continent anymore. You'd have to reteach an entire generation of engineers.
Besides that, part of the point of switching away from oil and gas is at least some independence. Europe isnt known for its nuclear fuel supply so now you're reliant on another country again.
Yes, most solar is produced in China but its about as low maintence as it gets and there is still enough knowledge to produce in Europe.
It wasn't going to happen in China either. China also disn't have the knowledge. And yet...
Maybe Trump is playing 4D chess after all, pushing Europe into independence so US can spend its energy on China :)
Are there 4?
Or that our political and media class are captured...
Yes, obviously that's the case, however it goes beyond that. I still vividly remember how in high school they taught us persistently how bad nuclear power is for the environment. And TBH for a very long time, I actually believed it. A lot of people in Germany never stopped believing it. At this point we have to admit to ourselves that the "Green"'s are a political ideology with good slogans, but ultimately contrary to their own messaging it is: pro-war, anti-worker, anti-independence, and generally just a basket to capture anti-empire sentiment to redirect them towards supporting it.
As things stand now it won't be able to compensate for the closure of older reactors.
You're describing France from 2010 to 2020, not today.
New operational reactor in 2024 was the first in 25 years so hardly "since 2010"...