Nuclear plants are the same size as coal and oil based generation plants... Just use the ALREADY decommissioned locations. No extra space needed at all. Rahabing the old facilities is a cost though.
I'm no expert, but from my understanding aside from the land being reused, nothing really from a former coal/natural gas plant could really be reused. The DOE regulations and requirements would require all infrastructure to be built for the reactors. The security requirements are also significantly more than a fossil fuel plant. However, the connections to the grid could be reused and upgraded and former plant personnel could be retrained. The biggest issue is cost unfortunately, the Vogel plant in Georgia has been like a decade behind schedule and significantly over budget. Part of that is due to how long we went from building plants in the 70s, to the nuclear scare to now building again. So much knowledge has been lost from crafts people who were experts in things like the specific types of welding needing, concrete mixtures etc. I think the future in the US at least will be the new prefabricated small scall reactors.
Nuclear plants are the same size as coal and oil based generation plants... Just use the ALREADY decommissioned locations. No extra space needed at all. Rahabing the old facilities is a cost though.
I'm no expert, but from my understanding aside from the land being reused, nothing really from a former coal/natural gas plant could really be reused. The DOE regulations and requirements would require all infrastructure to be built for the reactors. The security requirements are also significantly more than a fossil fuel plant. However, the connections to the grid could be reused and upgraded and former plant personnel could be retrained. The biggest issue is cost unfortunately, the Vogel plant in Georgia has been like a decade behind schedule and significantly over budget. Part of that is due to how long we went from building plants in the 70s, to the nuclear scare to now building again. So much knowledge has been lost from crafts people who were experts in things like the specific types of welding needing, concrete mixtures etc. I think the future in the US at least will be the new prefabricated small scall reactors.