June 15, 2024

"China is the prime AI threat... and... what they need more than anything else is electricity."

"They have to have electricity, massive amounts of electricity.... [T]he electricity needs are greater than anything we've ever needed before to do AI at the highest level, and China will produce it because they'll do whatever you have to do, whereas we have environmental impact people.... We have a lot of people trying to hold us back, but massive amounts of electricity are needed in order to do AI, and we're going to have to generate a whole different level of energy. And we can do it, and I think we should do it, but we have to be very careful with it right we have to watch it.... A lot of smart people... say it takes over it takes over the human race. It's really powerful stuff, AI, so let's see how it all works out...."

87 comments:

rhhardin said...

I'm waiting for the large language model of DigiComp I

Drago said...

Nukes. And more nukes.

But the lefties won't allow it as it would harm the payoffs from the Russkis/ChiComs (who are building more) and the New Soviet Democratical islamic supremacist allies.

doctrev said...

This is a fine way of pointing out that Google and Microsoft would happily build their own coal plants before accepting restrictions on consumption for their AI projects. Absolute freaks who need to be removed from all public influence.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Trump ----master of the verbal run-on sentence.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The other side never talks about how we will power the AI and EV industries. I’m glad Trump is putting the issue out there.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Nuclear power - not build on fault lines. yes. More.

Leftists stupidly think wind and solar will save us. Morons.

Yancey Ward said...

The future belongs to those that can reliably power it. It won't be done with wind and sunlight.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So you think Trump’s a “master” at something after all. I knew that act had a lot of projection in it. He’s just a man running for president. Don’t get carried away.

The Vault Dweller said...

Why would we hobble ourselves if China, India, SE Asia, and developing Africa will burn fossil fuels if they need to? We need to prioritize the material well-being of our citizens over the feelings of fulfillment of environmentalists. I don't mind if people want to buy moral indulgences, but I object when they do so at other people's expenses.

Drago said...

Boulder Idiot: "Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
Trump ----master of the verbal run-on sentence."

There are other opinions by people who are not dunces.

"Silicon Valley billionaire and long time Democratic voter, Chamath Palihapitiya, has shared a surprising revelation about his experience with President Donald Trump on Friday.

Palihapitiya, the Sri Lankan-born Canadian-American venture capitalist and CEO of Social Capital stated on his podcast that the media’s portrayal of Trump had been lies and that witnessing Trump in person dramatically changed his perception of the former president.

Speaking on the All In Podcast, alongside co-hosts Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg, Palihapitiya praised Trump for his charisma, intellect, humor, and unexpected kindness.

Palihapitiya: “I’ll give you two observations. The first is that I think there is a huge gap between how the media tries to portray Donald Trump and what he’s like when you meet him in person. And that gap is really wide. So, I would say, specifically to Democrats and independents, you really do need to sit in the room and feel what it’s like. David is right. He is charismatic, he’s intellectually sharp, and he’s funny. When you put that together, he can engage an audience for a long time and be totally extemporaneous.

“The other thing I would say is that he is very polite and he’s kind in a way that was disarming and was not what I expected. I felt that I had misjudged him for many years in the past. I was very glad that I had an opportunity to sit beside him and to actually interact with him one-on-one. It was really engaging. That’s more about the style. Then about the substance, what I would say is that it was not just a pro-American agenda, but it’s very clear that he was pro-innovation. He was really supportive of AI in the details that he talked about.”

Another stupid billionaire impressed by Trump. Don't these guys know that Trump is a complete idiot and can't speak and can't do anything to impress anyone who isn't a backwards rube that shops at places Boulder Idiot would never set foot in?

tsk tsk

Silly billionaires.

Drago said...

More from Silicon Valley billionaire and long time Democratic voter, Chamath Palihapitiya:

"This is a moment when you have to start to re-underwrite, is one’s ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ causing more damage than anything President Trump could have done? And I think the answer is yes.

Because it is now causing us to not see that good work, and then embrace and extend it. So much of the work that happened in that administration turned out to have been right, and that is what is so frustrating for me."

Important Note: it ain't just dems with TDS.

Drago said...

Quotes from the "All In Podcast"

https://x.com/theallinpod/status/1801742317172248996

EdwdLny said...

" whereas we have environmental impact people.... We have a lot of people trying to hold us back " . True. That is the implicit strategy and goal of the tree huggers. The most vociferous proponents of environmentalism are frequently the worst offenders and most outrageous liars. Take joey bidet and his crime family. They profit from and protect, they promote and defend the most environmentally filthy country on the planet, communist China. All while also denying the rampant humanitarian crimes in the world. Tells one everything one needs to know about the left ,the democrats, and the Biden administration.

imTay said...

Not to worry, AI is busy designing a working model of fusion power as we speak.

RCOCEAN II said...

If Trump needs to win the middle west states like Winsconsin or Michagan he needs to start talking about jobs and protecting US Industry. And helping US workers. I hope he brings up that he supported the Railway workers strike, and Biden didn't.

He's talking way too much about tax cuts, israel, and China's need for electricity. That's not going to win him Winsconsin.

Dave Begley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Temujin said...

What Yancey Ward said at 10:28.

That's the nub. It'll take a boatload more energy than we have now to power the data centers required to run the AI servers alone. Not even talking about a conversion to EVs along the way. Our population just grew by over 12 million in the past few years. It's going to keep going up.

I don't know the answer to 'how' just yet, but I do know that solar and wind are not nearly capable of doing the job. Plus, just mining, refining, and producing the useable minerals and materials needed to do all of this is, so far, limited and includes a lot of child labor. (not to mention that the Chinese, while building hundreds of new coal plants, have also bought out the largest lithium and cobalt mines, and own the refinery plants).

Dave Begley said...

Vault Dweller.

Nebraska law requires that our public power districts only generate and sell low cost and reliable power. Omaha Public Power District has a net zero policy that will require a massive build out of solar and wind. I tell the OPPD Board every month that their policy is contrary to NE law. They ignore me.

Dave Begley said...

And here’s China’s plan that is plainly obvious to anyone who will open their eyes.

China is building a new coal-fired power plant every week. Coal is cheap and reliable.

The US, on the other hand, is building expensive and unreliable solar and wind. Solar and wind relies on raw materials from China.

Result? We turn our grid over to the ChiComs and our economy gets destroyed by triple electric rates.

China will win Cold War II without firing a shot. But the rich liberal elites and the Street get even richer.

Dave Begley said...

Temujin

The answer is NOT blowing in the wind. The answer is natgas and coal. And then nukes.

Chuck said...

So the guy who is perpetually “two weeks” away from serving up the really great national health care reform that he’s been working on, that will replace “Obamacare” and will be a plan that we are all really going to love, we’re going to be very pleased with it, is the guy whom we should look to on the future of energy production, the electrical grid and artificial intelligence?

n.n said...

Vote for machine intelligence. In the worst case scenario, it will recommend Planned Person.... uh, Parenthood to reduce our carbon footprint. How would we be able to discern the difference? Here's to progress.

narciso said...

no they never were, hence the industrial revolution, and that was back when he had a quarter of the population, if not less,

narciso said...

Ai is a tool to do things, not an end in itself,

Drago said...

LLR-democratical And Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "...is the guy whom we should look to on the future of energy production, the electrical grid and artificial intelligence?"

LOL

The LLR-democratical Brigade "leader" is out of gates with a comment dealing with energy production as if 2017-2021 never existed!

Thanks for playing Chuck! At least you tried....probably in between pitchers full of gin and tonics and perhaps, lots of replaying videos of Biden sniffing and feeling up children and videos of attacks on conservative women and black politicians.

Skeptical Voter said...

Trump is still intellectually sharp--and not yet prone to wandering around in pastures.

Drago said...

FYI for other Althouse readers, LLR-democratical And Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck, a big supporter of pro-groomer policies in schools with young children including availability of pornographic books and sexualized drag queen story hours, is now explicitly asserting that ALL Trump supporters are "ChristoFascists"!

LOL

Uh oh Chuckles. When you go that hard left its always difficult to try and return to you fake online "conservative" gaslighting persona!

I sense another potential "Pecan Pie-gate" / "Exposed for wanting completely open borders" style Chuck meltdown here!

Let's see what happens next!

narciso said...

I think the Chinese after Mao under Deng and successors saw Marxism as a incomplete means to achieve their goals, which was restore the Middle King and seak vengeance upon the West

so they studied the Robber barons, the industrial magnates they had once condemned and proceeded accordingly no environmental, no labor or other regulations, until they reach the requisite stage of development, Xi came on the scene and sees thats not sufficient to unite a nation of 1.6 billion people,

Rich said...

This is fascinating, with seemingly far reaching consequences for China's ability to harness AI for economic and societal benefit.

If it truly insists on training all its LLM's on such a narrow and limiting set of source material, then it will fail to keep up with the imminent productivity benefits about to be unleashed across the "free" West.

If, on the other hand, it sources more widely from the Internet, then how does it keep a lid on the "free and subversive" knowledge that Western LLM's are built upon.

Feels like a checkmate or kick over the board choice is staring the CCP in the face? Xi’s Century of Humiliation is just beginning.

I am also awaiting Trump AI version — it will be the greatest ever. So many parameters. All the greatest parameters….

narciso said...

cue the Billy Madison quote,

I would call Rich a Eunuch, but they have a use,

The rule of Lemnity said...

Dam. How can people not like this guy Trump. He just says exactly what could be said about something practically no one understands and he says it with humour.

Drago said...

LLR-democratical Rich: ".....blah....blah....blah...."

Actual silicon valley technology billionaire:

“The other thing I would say is that he is very polite and he’s kind in a way that was disarming and was not what I expected. I felt that I had misjudged him for many years in the past. I was very glad that I had an opportunity to sit beside him and to actually interact with him one-on-one. It was really engaging. That’s more about the style. Then about the substance, what I would say is that it was not just a pro-American agenda, but it’s very clear that he was pro-innovation. He was really supportive of AI in the details that he talked about.”
---Silicon Valley billionaire and long time Democratic voter, Chamath Palihapitiya who now supports Trump (despite Chuck's inebriated and Rich's hilarious cut and paste "objections"!)

narciso said...

because they are paid to misunderstand, biology, thermodynamics history economics,

pacwest said...

Yes Chuck. Absolutely! But the Republican Party in Michigan, needs to get its shit together first. And since you are such an influential part of it I highly recommend you get in a room with them and let them know they have two choices in this election. 1: Get behind Trump full bore. Or 2: Remain stupid and watch the US and the world circle the drain and go down the toilet.

#1 or #2? Sorry the choices are so limited and stark, but you and your fellow TDS sufferers are in part responsible for that.

On a personal note you would be much better off if you would venture outside your local TDS bubble once in a while and dip your toes in the real world. Try it. Who knows what could happen? Or not. The choices remain the same.

Rich said...

Some of the words that were used by CEO’s to describe Trump after meeting with him: ‘meandering, all over the map’, ‘doesn't know what he's talking about’, ‘could not keep a straight thought’.

He's slurring, gesticulating, riffing nonsensically, his aphasia is in full view, and we've probably heard his last-ever full sentence. He's becoming Grandpa Simpson.

narciso said...

https://substack.com/home/post/p-145154268

PM said...

Why not call it what it is: EI, Electrical Intelligence.

imTay said...

"If, on the other hand, it sources more widely from the Internet, then how does it keep a lid on the "free and subversive" knowledge that Western LLM's are built upon."

All the while, the actual free and subversive stuff that the LLMs come up with based on Western models are punished by teams of activists, who do a secondary training on these models, to make sure that they don't say anything that goes against regime narratives. Think of these "activists" as trainers with shock collars, like those aliens had on Kirk and Spock, to make them not think bad thoughts.

Once again, what Rich writes here is projection. Try and get ChatGPT to talk about anything that goes against liberal orthodoxy. Rich is just the pot calling the kettle black. Chinese AI is China's problem. Why are we focusing on the stuff that they are doing to their people on the other side of the world? Maybe to distract us from what is being done to Americans by America's government? Naah! "That's crazy talk imTay!"

Rich said...

I thought Comrade Drago and narciso were pilot versions of Chat Xi PT… Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet.

narciso said...

indeed look at how few actual outlets of truth, had a handle on the pandemic, and the big tech companies, either silenced or metered them, like schachtel, or taibbi or a host of other twitter accounts,

the Panopticon is coming from your neighborhood,

narciso said...

the previous substack is about the Regime's stranglehold on energy, some times when they tell you 'they will phase out fossil fuels' listen, as it was 'fundamentally transforming a country,

John henry said...

We have privately owned coal, solar, wind and ng/combined cycle generating plants in Puerto Rico.

We also have the formerly govt owned utility plants, mostly heavy oil.

Price per kwh by energy source

Coal @4-5c

NG/cc @10c

Solar 18-20c

Oil 20-22c

Peaker gas turbines @25c

https://genera-pr.com/data-generacion

At this moment 1338 Saturday we have 84mw of solar being generated out of 150 nameplate capacity.

We have 8mw wind out of 150 nameplate capacity.

Same link

John Henry


narciso said...

to think an AI could copy me, it would fry it's positronic core

John henry said...

Current demand 2,303mw

Total for Puerto Rico

John Henry

NKP said...

In the mid-eighties, while running a busy downtown athletic club, we hired a young Chinese woman who was a grad student at one of the local universities.

As things evolved, my partner and I were introduced to her fiance' who was a doctoral candidate in some STEM program at a nearby school. It turned out they were both children of the Chinese elite who ascended after Mao. Not on the org chart but they had The Juice.

Next thing you know, we were asked if we could procure an enormous amount of tin for China (financing, shipping, legal details all to be handled by one of their people in HK).

The whole tale's interesting (a peek behind the curtain in China, crooks and spooks everywhere and one really bad decision made for personal reasons by an otherwise brilliant European banker). That story's way too long for here.

I knew nothing about tin but working on mysteries without any clues is one of my favorite things. So I start at the library (pre-internet) to find out where tin comes from. Shockingly, China has more of it than just about anybody. Hmmm....

Then, I check the specs for the tin China wants. Oh... tin that's been processed to large degree. Oh... maybe China doesn't have anywhere near enough power to process and fabricate it's abundant natural resources. Just the kind of thinking that'll get you an "'attaboy" at certain three-letter agencies.

Apparently, AI has taken this to a whole new level. I have learned something today. :-)

Chuck said...

Were we supposed to know what "Impaulsive" was, or who Logan Paul is?

narciso said...

Resource wars have always been a thing, thats what drove Colonial expansion, the fact we have forgotten doesn't the Chinese have, oil tungsten cobalt, coltum and other rare earths,

Mason G said...

"The first is that I think there is a huge gap between how the media tries to portray Donald Trump and what he’s like when you meet him in person."

The MSM is less than honest in persuing their agenda? You don't say.

Lance said...

Trump has consistently highlighted the threat from Chinese imperial ambitions. I don't know of any other national politician who has done more to bring attention to CCP economic and other threats. He deserves great credit for that.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Oh The Horror!

https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2024/06/10/thousands-of-beloved-joshua-trees-to-be-chopped-down-in-maniacal-ca-solar-energy-push-n2175268

Don't forget to boogie!

Drago said...

LLR-democratical Rich: "I thought Comrade Drago and narciso were pilot versions of Chat Xi PT… Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet."

LOL

You are one of morons who proclaimed ChatGPT ANOTHER killer app against Musk!

But then again, you proclaim everything to be the deathknell for any and all Musk businesses!

When you aren't just sitting on the floor banging on your abacus or working hard to decide which writer you will cut and paste from without attribution.

Drago said...

Lance: "Trump has consistently highlighted the threat from Chinese imperial ambitions. I don't know of any other national politician who has done more to bring attention to CCP economic and other threats."

One of the key reasons the LLR-democratical Brigade despises Trump: he criticizes the biden/establishment ChiCom paymasters, amongst so many other paymasters.

LLR-democratical And Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck STILL defends and lauds and promotes Fang Fang's security breaching lover boy Eric Swalwell!

Drago said...

LLR-democratical And Violent Homosexual Rage Rape Fantasist Chuck: "Were we supposed to know what "Impaulsive" was, or who Logan Paul is?"

He's no Oliver Darcy or Aaron Rupar, that's for sure!

narciso said...

https://thefederalist.com/2024/06/14/how-legendary-spy-novelist-frederick-forsyth-discovered-hed-been-bowdlerized/

victoria said...

God, what a clueless buffoon. Pretty soon he will bw talking about how the sound of windmills causes cancer. and that Hannibal Lechter was a great guy. He was a character in an novel, movie etc... not a real person, you idiot.


Vicki from Pasadena

Yancey Ward said...

Someone with his head up Aaron Rupar's asshole would probably not know what day of the week it is, Chuck. This is just another example of what Achilles was talking about yesterday- as the mainstream media readership falls and falls, they don't even get the views within a magnitude as high as all the people that Chuck doesn't even have a clue exists in the same field of politics. Chuck is literally the perfect example of the GOP old guard- clueless as all fuck.

Yancey Ward said...

The Biden plan appears to be to simply ship all electricity intensive manufacture and service provision to China and India.

The Chinese are literally laughing their asses off at our expense.

John henry said...

Residential electric rate @25c

Jamie said...

Sheesh... What's happened to our resident lefties?

Chuck, "Do you know who I am/who this is???" is a logical fallacy - you know the one: appeal to authority. And you're not even doing it right. If, say, Obama (because we all know there's no way Biden could have done this on his best day, long ago) had said something insightful to, say, a local journalist in Kansas because that was the person who asked the question, would the notoriety of the journalist have been the important thing, or the insight itself?

Rich:

He's slurring, gesticulating, riffing nonsensically, his aphasia is in full view, and we've probably heard his last-ever full sentence. He's becoming Grandpa Simpson.

I think I've figured out your problem. It's true that both candidates are old white men, so perhaps you can be forgiven for getting them mixed up. Trump is the orange one with the weird hair. Biden is the tall, thin, shambling one.

Seriously, can anyone read, let alone write, the above paragraph without visions of our current president dancing - I mean shuffling - in their heads?

And then Vicki. Poor Vicki. Pasadena can do that to a person, I know - render her incapable of critique but only able to throw "gag me!" invective like the Valley Girl she thinks she's better than.

Old and slow said...

Drago, thank you for that information about Chamath Palihapitiya. Great stuff. I just watched the podcast on X. A very interesting bunch of guys.

Meade said...

victoria said...
God, what a clueless buffoon. Pretty soon he will bw talking about how the sound of windmills causes cancer. and that Hannibal Lechter was a great guy. He was a character in an novel, movie etc... not a real person, you idiot.


Vicki from Pasadena

Oh? And I suppose now you want us to believe special agent Jodie Foster isn’t real either.

Michael K said...

"Rich" and "Chuck" provide the usual entertainment. I think anyone that stupid would minimize its evidence.

That interview, which I've seen before, tells you why Trump is a billionaire. He understands things that "Rich" and "Chuck" would never hear of. He understands basic economics and the role of energy in industry. The Japanese attacked us at a unique moment in history. The Depression had put a lot of people out of work but the basics of industry still existed. Trump is a man somewhat like Knudson who ran Ford and Chevrolet then took over the war production and made 1943 happen. We could not do that again and would probably lose any war that Biden stumbled into. The Democrats, beginning with Clinton, who was merely corrupt, and including some Republicans have shipped our industries to China. The bunch running the country now, and we don't know who they are, are not merely corrupt but may be treasonous. We have certainly seen how they lie.

imTay said...

From Forsythe's novel "The Fourth Protocol"

…all history teaches that soundly based democracies can only be toppled by mass action in the streets when the police and armed forces have been sufficiently penetrated by the revolutionaries that large numbers of them can be expected to refuse to obey the orders of their officers and side instead with the demonstrators….

Wow, narciso. This doesn't sound at all like what happened in the summer of 2020 in Minneapolis, or in Portland, or in the Capitol Police on J6, does it. What was being overthrown were the democratic norms in those cases, by mobs, in league with the police, and even Kamala Harris was raising funds for the bail of the mob members in those actual insurrections. And remember, when the judges, who were also part of this movement, inevitably let these brownshirts off, these members of the progressive militias got to personally keep the returned bail, as payment for services rendered in the riots.

narciso said...

yes Lenin discovered that direct action, doesn't topple a regime, that was the Social Revolutionary's error, they had waged war against the czar's men, in part aided by the okrana
they removed some of the more able ones like stolypin, propaganda and other measures are required, so in blue states, we saw four years ago, as with the current wave of 'mostly peaceful actions'

Drago said...

victoria, a moron and passionate defender of biden showering with his adolescent daughter, said this: "God, what a clueless buffoon. Pretty soon he will bw talking about how the sound of windmills causes cancer. and that Hannibal Lechter was a great guy. He was a character in an novel, movie etc... not a real person, you idiot."

And yet, silicon valley technology billionaires who were formerly strong democrat donors, having spent time with Trump and discussing significant global impact technology issues, are impressed by Trump and are donating to his campaign.

So, the Open Question:

Who is correct about Trump, deeply experienced silicon valley billionaires who are traditional democrats and have spent time with Trump, or some dumb valley chick in LA whose "education" peaked around the 4th grade and thinks fathers showering with adolescent daughters, and who knows what else, is, her own words, "perfectly normal"?

I think I'll go with the silicon valley technology billionaires over the psycho-sexual deviants from Pasadena.

Achilles said...

Chuck said...

Were we supposed to know what "Impaulsive" was, or who Logan Paul is?

He has more viewers than CNN or MSNBC for his shows.

Impaulsive has more than 4 times more subscribers than the WAPO, NYT's, and Wall Street journal combined.

But you think it is cool to say what you don't know about.

Because you are a stupid person.

Achilles said...

victoria said...

God, what a clueless buffoon. Pretty soon he will bw talking about how the sound of windmills causes cancer. and that Hannibal Lechter was a great guy. He was a character in an novel, movie etc... not a real person, you idiot.


Vicki from Pasadena


Wow.

You are just a really stupid person who doesn't even know how stupid you are.

Trump just makes people lose all reticence.

Achilles said...

Rich said...

Some of the words that were used by CEO’s to describe Trump after meeting with him: ‘meandering, all over the map’, ‘doesn't know what he's talking about’, ‘could not keep a straight thought’.

He's slurring, gesticulating, riffing nonsensically, his aphasia is in full view, and we've probably heard his last-ever full sentence. He's becoming Grandpa Simpson.


Rich bases his entire world view on being superior to people who disagree with him.

When you do this and you do it with no self awareness it leads to things like this.

Trump is at least 40 IQ higher than Rich. He is so far to the right of Rich that Rich cannot even explain logically what Trump says or does. Trump has accomplished so much more in his life than Rich has that Rich cannot even register that Trump has done anything.

Rich supports Joe Biden. Rich thinks Joe Biden is smart.

Rich is dumber than Joe Biden. Joe Biden shits his pants in public.

I predicted 4 years ago that Joe Biden would be so humiliatingly incompetent that he would leave the party with only the core 50 million below average supporters who were too stupid to be humiliated by obvious stupid failure.

Here we are. Here is Rich and his 90 IQ garbage. Really all of the leftists(and nevertrumps) are just showing their ass on this thread.

They really need to throw Trump in Jail. Please throw Trump in jail.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Rhhardin, my first computer was the original DigiComp 1, back in the 60s. But if you ran it at a clock rate much over 1 Hz, it would self-destruct.

imTay said...

If you hear the name ”Grandpa Simpson,” you don’t think of Trump, but Rich’s whole playbook seems to be based on projecting his own guy’s faults onto Trump. The real dead ringer for Biden, though, is the old pedophile pervert on Family Guy, but Rich is probably afraid to try that gambit, given that even the low IQ normies that he aims his schtick at would notice the strong resemblance to Joe.

Rich said...

"Nuclear power - not build on fault lines. yes. More."

All nuclear power is likely to require overt or covert subsidies. That’s because if you factor in proper safety engineering, painstaking supervision of construction, careful cleanup of the site at the end of life and proper storage of the nuclear wastes it is unbelievably expensive. You do get a huge amount of electricity generated steadily and reliably for many decades, but the price per MWh generated remains very high.

The whole idea of building Small Modular Reactors is to bring the costs down considerably by:
1) Reducing the amount of engineering design input and safety engineering that is specific to each plant.

2) Reducing the regulatory input and delays for each plant because they are all the same or almost the same.

3) Increasing the standardization of components so that parts suppliers can expect to make thirty or sixty of each unique item rather than one or two. This reduces tooling and setup costs.

4) Reducing the spare parts cost. With a custom-designed reactor, you have to hold at least one spare part in storage for every major part of the reactor that might fail or need to be replaced. With a fleet of Modular reactors you probably only need to hold three or four spare parts at any one time across a fleet of thirty or sixty reactors.

5) Reducing manufacturing times and assembly times as parts manufacturers and reactor builders gain experience of the design and learn to do things better and quicker. This is a large effect as a lot of the cost of traditional nuclear build is the rolled-up interest of taking 7 to 9 years to build the plant.

6) Reducing the possibility of mistakes or delays in construction because the design has been built many times before and all the mistakes and delays have been ironed out.

7) Making the design such that it is cheaper and quicker to shut down the reactor and carry out repairs if needed. In particular the “Modular” nature of the design should allow items that fail to be swapped out more quickly instead of requiring a complex removal, redesign, new safety case and rebuild.

8) Providing much greater certainty as regards the design time and the build time to investors and funders. This potentially lowers the effective interest rate or implied interest rate that will be charged on finance.

9) By reducing the size of the reactors, allowing any failures or incidents that require a shutdown to affect only a smaller amount of electricity production. With large traditional reactors any shutdown is a big deal. With six or eight SMRs on a similar site supplying the same amount of electricity any shutdown of one of them is only affecting a smaller amount of power.

10) By allowing the site owner / power utility to stagger the build on any site so that units are built at intervals and come to the end of their life at intervals thus stretching out the construction and decommissioning / site cleanup activities over many decades and avoiding peak requirements in workforce or in financing.

typingtalker said...

And we can do it, and I think we should do it, but we have to be very careful with it right we have to watch it.... A lot of smart people... say it takes over it takes over the human race. It's really powerful stuff, AI, so let's see how it all works out...."
-- Donald Trump.

Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision, – he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath –

"The horror! The horror!"

-- Heart of Darkness.

Time will tell.

Rich said...

@ Achilles: Twitter isn't real life when it's liberals yelling about Trump. But when it's people posting viral memes about Biden's age, it is real life.

Once again, Donald Trump has offered unprompted praise to fictional cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter. How much longer can America ignore Biden's age and mental state? When is Joe Biden going to engage with the Lecter contingent?

It could cost him dearly.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

NBC Rich -
Really - all you do is read BS from the leftist press. We are not impressed.
But thanks for the regurgitation.

Rusty said...

"Oh? And I suppose now you want us to believe special agent Jodie Foster isn’t real either.

She's not?! Goddamn it!

Rich. Once again captain obvious.

Drago said...

LLR-democratical Rich: "Once again, Donald Trump has offered unprompted praise to fictional cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter. How much longer can America ignore Biden's age and mental state? When is Joe Biden going to engage with the Lecter contingent?

It could cost him dearly."

LOL

I do believe Rich believes he made an actual point here!

Spoiler: he didn't.

Again.

imTay said...

Rich has devolved into self-parody.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Victoria -
Compared to Trump - you are leaps and bounds higher on the stupid scale. You're so high on the stupid scale - you hit the bell and launched yourself into deep space.

narciso said...

its Side show bob with multiple rakes, getting to the point, we need cheap and abundant energy that alex epstein has pointed out is not where the Regime is taking us, and the AI fixation will compound the problem

rehajm said...

Victoria - Compared to Trump - you are leaps and bounds higher on the stupid scale.

Oh mann…

walk don't run said...

Garbage in, garbage out! That is the basic law of the internet, a primary law of the digital age. The scary thing is that AI is always going to be based on garbage in. Who's garbage is it going to be? Your's or Chuck's. He's working hard to make sure its his garbage. Could it be your garbage?

In the end AI is going to be a farce because of the "garbage in" problem. When we figure that out it may be too late but in the meantime it will be interesting and Althouse will have her unique blog with an outstandingly honest blog of what is actually happening. Thank you Ann. I appreciate your honesty in a world of "garbage".



Interested Bystander said...

This explains why Bill Gates is behind next generation sodium cooled nookUlar reactors. Excuse the GW Bushism.

Jamie said...

Sideshow Bob is exactly right. And was there ever a more perfectly cast character?

I suppose Wile E. Coyote rivals that casting, but Mel Blanc could do anything.

Rusty said...

Nuclear plants are pretty easy to build. We've built hundreds of them. They are safe and if the regulatory state would back off we could have dozens in the next five years.

Narayanan said...

He understands basic economics and the role of energy in industry.
=================
Trump gets it = as stated in Atlas Shrugged > Motive Power and John Galt Generator powering the future after lights out in New York

Mikey NTH said...

OT: There was a very large Trump boat parade on Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River today. There were many boats, not sure the number. And it was a mix of small and large boats.

Never seen a Biden boat parade.

Rusty said...

Imagine if all the capital we've put into wind turbines and solar panels had been invested in nuclear.
How much platinum does it take to make a fuel cell as opposed to a catalytic converter?