Craig Hotrum
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craighotrum.bsky.social
Craig Hotrum
@craighotrum.bsky.social
Nuclear professional, Licensed Control Room Shift Supervisor (SRO). Operations lead for station projects. All views are my own. RT not endorsement.
Ontario’s Nuclear Expansion Creating More than 350 Jobs in Cambridge
Ontario workers will deliver key components for Pickering Refurbishment Project and first SMR in the G7

news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
Ontario Newsroom
news.ontario.ca
January 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Ontario Advancing Plan to Refurbish Pickering Nuclear Generating Station #OntariosNuclearAdvantage long term energy planning for reliable, low carbon power to drive our prosperity.
news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
Ontario Newsroom
news.ontario.ca
January 23, 2025 at 3:13 PM
#OntariosNuclearAdvantage Clean, reliable energy to power our future prosperity news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
Ontario Newsroom
news.ontario.ca
January 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Ontario Building Fortress Am-Can to Power Economic Prosperity in Canada and the United States #OntariosNuclearAdvantage

news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...
Ontario Newsroom
news.ontario.ca
January 9, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Chicago was 100% nuclear 93% of the days in 2024*

(*Mark Z. Jacobson methodology)
How did the Northern Illinois grid perform in 2024?

⚡️ Electricity consumed: 93 TWh
⚛️ Estimated nuclear generation: 89 TWh
⏰ Nuclear generation exceeded load 47% of the time
📅 Nuclear generation exceeded load on 338 days
January 3, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Since the Jimmy Carter Chalk River legend is circulating again time to repost this: nuclearheritage.com/jimmy-carter...
nuclearheritage.com
December 30, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Interestingly, for Ontario, the best looking package of all is a nuclear and solar combo, where ~20GW nuclear, 10GW solar, and 6GW of 12hr storage be a quite reasonable package.
For no nuclear, we are looking like 40GW PV+80GW wind+101hrs (1.57TWh) of storage.
December 27, 2024 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
I have been playing around with an interesting concept here - the tradeoff curves of capacity vs storage.
First for a completely clean + storage system. This is what we need for Ontario for a no FF system with current demand profile, assuming starting from scratch for clarity. 🔌💡
December 27, 2024 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
France's EDF (slightly) boosts nuclear output estimate for 2024 🇫🇷☢️

📈 Generation is now estimated at 358-364 TWh, up from previously outlook of 340-360 TWh (granted, there is just a few weeks left in 2024)
📉 Higher nuclear output will help curb demand for natural gas & coal
December 11, 2024 at 9:44 AM
#OntariosNuclearAdvantage

#UnionStrong

This announcement demonstrates Westinghouse’s deep commitment to Canada’s economy by securing work for Canadian firms and trade unions supporting Westinghouse’s global fleet of advanced reactors.

info.westinghousenuclear.com/news/westing...
Westinghouse Welcomes Canadian Financing for Poland’s First Nuclear Power Plant
Peterborough, Ontario, December 5, 2024 – Westinghouse Electric Company welcomes the Letter of Interest (LOI) for US$1.45 billion ($2.02 billion CAD) in financing from Export Development Canada (EDC) ...
info.westinghousenuclear.com
December 10, 2024 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
I'm featured in
@gbrumfiel.bsky.social @npr.org All Things Considered this morning talking about nuclear and AI. Long story short, net-zero commitments X 24 hour clean energy matching don't leave many options for firm generation. www.npr.org/2024/12/09/n...
Artificial Intelligence wants to go nuclear. Will it work?
The nuclear industry and big tech companies think they can solve each other's problems, but critics are skeptical the marriage can last.
www.npr.org
December 9, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
A cautionary tale unfolded last week as Denmark failed to attract bids for offshore wind. What can we learn from this?

This is a multi-dimensional problem, but the primary lesson I believe is that Denmark wrongly expected developers to take on market risk. 🧵🔌💡1/9

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Failed offshore auction highlights how Denmark missed winds of change
Denmark's failure to attract any bids in an offshore wind power tender this week stems from a rigid auction model, a failure to adapt to a changed economic reality for renewable energy projects and rising competition, analysts said on Friday.
www.reuters.com
December 9, 2024 at 10:21 AM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Denmark's offshore wind auction for 6 GW capacity flops = no bids submitted. Vattenfall and others cite poor project economics due to state owning 20%, annual fees, and no subsidies. The Danish Energy Agency to investigate. 🔌💡
Slemt skuffende resultat af udbuddet i Nordsøen. Omstændigheder for havvind er ændret markant. Der kan være mange forklaringer. Derfor har jeg bedt
Energistyrelsen gå i dialog med markedet, så vi ved, hvordan vi bedst kan handle. Vi skal have mere havvind. #dkpol #dkgreen
kefm.dk/aktuelt/nyhe...
Ingen bud på havvindmølleparker: Opklaringsarbejde er igangsat
Energistyrelsen har ikke modtaget bud på nogen af de tre havvindmølleparker i Nordsøen, der havde budfrist i går. Ministeren har nu bedt Energistyrelsen om at sætte gang i dialog med markedet for at u...
kefm.dk
December 6, 2024 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Northvolt's ambition to be a battery major started as aspiration, lacking process or strategy. With funding secured, part of a wave of 'experts' and providers joining the frenzy—each claiming their solution is the one. How to mitigate risk while picking winners? 🔌💡
sifted.eu/articles/nor...
What’s next for Northvolt after Chapter 11 bankruptcy?
Filing for Chapter 11 means Swedish gigafactory manufacturer Northvolt can seek new financing and restructure its debts.
sifted.eu
November 22, 2024 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Here's a link to POWER's Special Report on #nuclear power. Lots of information here on several topics related to nuclear, including O&M, decommissioning, restarts, fuel, and more. #energysky www.nxtbook.com/accessintell...
pwr_november-2024
Experience our interactive, profoundly engaging digital publication!
www.nxtbook.com
November 19, 2024 at 6:04 PM
On budget, ahead of schedule. This is how we execute Nuclear projects in Canada. #OntariosNuclearAdvantage
November 18, 2024 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Nuclear waste isn’t as scary as it sounds:
✅ It’s tiny—your lifetime electricity would make about 1 soda can of waste
✅ It’s stored safely—we always know where it is (unlike CO₂ stored in the air)
✅ It’s managed safely now & thanks to #science we know how to keep it safe deep underground forever
Friday night hot take is that a lot more toxic waste products should be treated like nuclear waste. The nuclear energy field has to treat its toxic products very carefully so that they don't harm future life (which is good!), but we don't ask the same of toxic wastes that never break down...
November 16, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
Nvidia, the world's most valuable company, has just made its first move into nuclear power: it is partnering with PG&E's recently-saved Diablo Canyon Nuclear plant to build AI inside the plant.

The deal is being announced right now.

Here's Reuters on the story:

www.reuters.com/technology/a...
November 13, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
November 11, 2024 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Craig Hotrum
At COP29 a few moments ago the USA just dropped a 200GW nuclear roadmap.

As recently as 2016 nuclear wasn't even welcome as a topic at COP and now we have climate-focused governments dropping era-defining nuclear plans there?

It's a new world.
November 12, 2024 at 2:52 PM