Additional investment in transmission lines and sector coupling is politically more viable and cheaper, and already that is stalled. So I'd rather push for that. (Plus we avoid a massive scale waste problem). Let existing ones run as long as possible, and if China or other countries want to go for the nuclear option, great! I'm simply objecting to the idea that that's the only/easiest/optimal option.
The variability of renewables is of course a well studied problem [1] and exactly why, after a certain point, we need transmission capacity (or, more expensive, local storage). The variability averages out on large scales.
The variability of renewables is of course a well studied problem [1] and exactly why, after a certain point, we need transmission capacity (or, more expensive, local storage). The variability averages out on large scales.
[1] I posted this elsewhere already: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1801.05290.pdf