Originally Posted by
Asturias56
"Perhaps technology has improved a bit since @1960"
Absolutely - but there's really little benefit in a reactor in the Antarctic - it requires dedicated crews and that just adds to the supply issues - which are the main cost of supporting people down there
I would assume that millions of gallons of fuel are also a "supply issue". And diesel generators also require crews to run and maintain.
This source says McMurdo alone consumes 1,300,000 gallons of diesel per year for power, heat and desalination.
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/38124.pdf
The logistics challenges associated with fuel in Antarctica are numerous, with type, temperature, storage, costs, limited delivery window, forwarding of fuel to remote sites, etc. Each gallon/pound delivered take more gallons to get it there.
https://erdc-library.erdc.dren.mil/j...20TR-17-15.pdf
This source identifies over 8 million gallon of fuel transported south each year, bit dated. A good portion is aviation fuel.
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11753/chapter/11 page 75
There are also concerns about fossil fuel burning in the extremely dry areas of Antarctica.
https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/...ing-related-to