Re: Russia, in the 80's their economy was somewhat close to the US but it's not anymore. Russian GDP is less than Texas.
Nowadays the only threat Russia poses is the nuclear threat.
One silver lining I see with the current situation is it pushed many countries in the west (like Germany) off Russian fossil fuels and toward renewable energy much faster than would have happened otherwise.
FWIW, Germany was already in a headlong (and a bit foolhardy) rush to solar/wind well before Feb 2022, even shutting down nuclear reactors.
I've found Sarah Paine's interviews with Dwarkesh Patel on youtube very enlightening--a whole lot of global and historical context that doesn't always get its just attention. A few key quotes: "Putin has no back down plan." "(Russia) will be the new North Korea" (referring to long-term prospects)
I don't really understand the resistance to nuclear power. It doesn't emit greenhouse gasses like fossil fuels. It's way safer, too. The number of deaths in fossil fuels every year is several orders of magnitude greater than from nuclear.
Deaths per TWH, Coal is 24, Oil is 18 and Nuclear is .03. Its crazy that the actual data is exactly the opposite of what you'd expect it to be, if you only got your information from newspaper headlines.
The only issue I see with Nuclear is it's super expensive. Like 90% more than fossil fuels, and 300% more expensive than wind/solar.
Also, countries in Germany's position would merely be replacing foreign fossil fuel dependency with foreign uranium dependency. It's a national security concern.
Then there is the waste storage problem. Fusion cannot get here fast enough.
Guys think that fusion energy will be a panacea. However, it really hasn't been ironed out. Who is to say that fusion energy won't also produce waste? I suspect it will.
How about fission? are we beating a dead horse?
First the new designs for nuclear plants produce much less waste than the ones we have now. The existing plants are nothing but the best of 1960s technology. Second - The existing plants actually produce a rather small amount of waste.
Let's ask Mr. Internet. How much nuclear wast is produced in the United States?
"The U.S. generates about 2,000 metric tons of spent fuel each year. This number may sound like a lot, but the volume of the spent fuel assemblies is actually quite small considering the amount of energy they produce. The amount is roughly equivalent to less than half the volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool.Oct 3, 2022
https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-fast-facts-about-spent-nuclear-fuelNote that they also say the stuff can be recycled. Ninety percent of the energy is still in the spent fuel.
Are generation IV reactors expected to be better than the reactors now in service?
Wikipedia article says they have the following advantages:
" Nuclear waste that remains radioactive for a few centuries instead of millennia[46]
100–300x energy yield from the same amount of nuclear fuel[47] Broader range of fuels, including unencapsulated raw fuels (non-pebble MSR, LFTR).
Potential to burn existing nuclear waste and produce electricity: a closed fuel cycle.
Improved safety via features such as ambient pressure operation, automatic passive reactor shutdown, and alternate coolants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactorYou know - I've never seen a Star Trek episode where the ship is wind or solar powered. (Solar sails may soon be coming to NASA.)
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