Electric cars

[JimSh]

Putting the power stations close to urban areas provides potential to use the waste heat (and a steam turbine is no more than 40% efficient) for heating of buildings. Some big plumbing would need to be installed but it's one way to stop is freezing during winter without adding more carbon to the atmosphere. District heating systems are common in many countries.

Every time I drive past Grangemouth with all the steam and blazing lights from the refinery and other chemical plants I think the same thing.

[Jocko]

The worst thing around here is Mossmorran with its flare blazing for days at a time. On a cloudy night, I can read in bed by its light - and I am in Kirkcaldy.

[sparky Paul]

I lived by the side of a coal fired station for twenty years until it closed, the steam belching out of the cooling towers create their own microclimate in the area. Unlike other countries, communal heating systems from these sorts of heat producing industries is rare here. When they have been attempted, they often prove unreliable and are eventually scrapped.

The closest they got here were a substantial array of heat and CO2 fed greenhouses, which fell into disrepair and were eventually abandoned.

[ColinB]

such as the difficulty of finding enough sites

From what I have read about them they propose siting them near major conurbations to supply power to cities without major extensions to the grid. When you think about it, they were happy to put nuclear submarines with their reactors just a few miles from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Oh, but that is in Scotland, my mistake.

Clearly forgetting about Devonport (which is much closer to the centre of a city than either of the Scottish nuclear submarine facilities) and Chatham (before they closed it).

[ColinB]

[
Putting the power stations close to urban areas provides potential to use the waste heat ...

The problem with putting permanent nuclear installations near urban areas is nothing to do with nuclear safety (the UK nuclear regulatory processes for both civil and military reactors are pretty good these days). The problem is public acceptance. No amount of poring over safety cases and the like will convince Joe Public to accept a reactor next door. So RR will definitely have a problem finding somewhere to put their SMRs.

[Jocko]

Clearly forgetting about Devonport (which is much closer to the centre of a city than either of the Scottish nuclear submarine facilities) and Chatham (before they closed it).

But they are not near Westminster so they don't count either.

[sparky Paul]

[
Putting the power stations close to urban areas provides potential to use the waste heat ...

The problem with putting permanent nuclear installations near urban areas is nothing to do with nuclear safety (the UK nuclear regulatory processes for both civil and military reactors are pretty good these days). The problem is public acceptance.

...and cooling water.

That's why they are not built on rivers in the UK, only coastal and on large reservoirs of water. They cannot guarantee supply of cooling water.

[ColinB]

Clearly forgetting about Devonport (which is much closer to the centre of a city than either of the Scottish nuclear submarine facilities) and Chatham (before they closed it).

But they are not near Westminster so they don't count either.

I'm not really clear why distance from Westminster is obsessing you, because nuclear safety standards are concerned with safety of the general public irrespective of who and where they are.
But how about this one (8 km as the crow flies from Westminster) ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JASON_reactor
"... JASON was one of very few reactors operating within a major population centre ..."
Or this one (6.3 km):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Queen_Mary_University_of_London#Nuclear_reactor
Doubt that anyone'd have the nerve (or get permission) to do anything like those now!

[Jocko]

I'm not really clear why distance from Westminster is obsessing you,!

You would have to be a Scot to understand that. Westminster has shafted Scotland from time immemorial. To many Scots and me Westminster is Them, the Man, doesn't matter who is in power.
As far as nuclear power stations go, I couldn't give a sh*t where they build one. There is one line of sight from me. I worked at Dounreay for a spell back in the 60s, so I don't worry about it.

[sparky Paul]

I'm not really clear why distance from Westminster is obsessing you,!

You would have to be a Scot to understand that. Westminster has shafted Scotland from time immemorial. To many Scots and me Westminster is Them, the Man, doesn't matter who is in power.

I feel the same as a Yorkshireman!

[John Ratsey]

Every time I drive past Grangemouth with all the steam and blazing lights from the refinery and other chemical plants I think the same thing.

For many years the most profitable power station in Britain as Spondon H which was build to provide heat to a chemical plant next door http://www.strayoffthepath.co.uk/spondon-h-power-station.html .

[ColinB]

You would have to be a Scot to understand that. Westminster has shafted Scotland from time immemorial. To many Scots and me Westminster is Them, the Man, doesn't matter who is in power.

OK, I see where you're coming from now. I was just trying to comment on the difficulties of siting new nuclear power plants anywhere near urban concentrations. I'd guess there are many people in other regions of the UK that would have similar views to yours about our central government, but opening that can of worms here would would probably get this thread closed down. So can we get back to the thread topic, electric cars, and it's spin-off, how the UK grid will cope with them?

[JimSh]

Every time I drive past Grangemouth with all the steam and blazing lights from the refinery and other chemical plants I think the same thing.

For many years the most profitable power station in Britain as Spondon H which was build to provide heat to a chemical plant next door http://www.strayoffthepath.co.uk/spondon-h-power-station.html .

Back in the 1960s when I worked for BP as a student there used to be a power station on site but as far as I know it was just to provide power for the refinery.
There were plans to build a power station at Kinneil terminal in 2016 which were abandoned in 2017.
There are at present plans to build a power station incorporating carbon capture and hydrogen generation but this seems to be based on importation of shale oil gas from the US. so  IMHO not exactly environmentally friendly.

https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/business/2500-jobs-ps25-billion-carbon-capture-plant-grangemouth-3003382
https://www.ineos.com/inch-magazine/articles/issue-15/grangemouth-to-build-a-new-power-station/

[Kremmen]

I am getting the feeling that electric cars and the power to charge them is the Gov putting the cart before the horse.

[sparky Paul]

I am getting the feeling that electric cars and the power to charge them is the Gov putting the cart before the horse.

As Jim's said before, it's a chicken and egg job. It'll come as demand grows, home charging will drive adoption for a few years at least.