Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleF
I've been thinking we should be doing something like this up North. Nuclear energy and basically free/inexpensive energy for people in Yukon, NWT and Nunavut by running it regularly. Parallel it to what's going on in the Fort Mac area and use the excess for extraction/refining. If something happens, it's out there away from the large populations.
I've wanted the same for geothermal as well, but IIRC, the issue is the transmission of the power to where it can be used. The cost for that is too high.
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The thing with the north is most communities are small and spread out. They don't even need anywhere near what an SMR does, unless there is an industrial reason. You aren't linking them with transmission lines, either. So there aren't all that many communities that would make the cost worth it.
I think a lot of them would benefit from basic solar to cut way back on diesel use(generators) in the summer months. Beyond that, a lot of it is pretty small gains for the expense.
I've looked into geothermal in the north, there aren't a lot of good opportunities. Most wells are deep with a mediocre thermal gradient and bottom hole temperatures.