Frequency control by clock is not ideal, it takes quite a time to be one second out! In fact many generation systems away from the grid are controlled by frequency standards (generally quartz crystals) and a complex control system usually to be 50.00 Hz. However large load changes still cause deviations from ideal, as it takes time for increased fuel to recover the lost speed, even though this may be very small. Inverter supplies have to follow the connected mains frequency because they have only a very small power available compared to the grid, and so have a correspondingly tiny influence in speeding up all the rotating plant. Nuclear sources are basically steam plants so control as you describe. Steam plants have another advantage over other types in another way too. They have a boiler which contains a lot of steam acting as a big energy reserve, and boost if necessary while the heat input adjusts more slowly. If one had entirely inverter derived supplies the frequency could be set from a common standard, but the problem of using all the available output would have to be tackled as well, perhaps with some small local storage. The problem should improve when we build another 20 nuclear plants, to power electric transport, but don't hold your breath!

Frequency control by clock is not ideal, it takes quite a time to be one second out! In fact many generation systems away from the grid are controlled by frequency standards (generally quartz crystals) and a complex control system usually to be 50.00 Hz. However large load changes still cause deviations from ideal, as it takes time for increased fuel to recover the lost speed, even though this may be very small. Inverter supplies have to follow the connected mains frequency because they have only a very small power available compared to the grid, and so have a correspondingly tiny influence in speeding up all the rotating plant. Nuclear sources are basically steam plants so control as you describe. Steam plants have another advantage over other types in another way too. They have a boiler which contains a lot of steam acting as a big energy reserve, and boost if necessary while the heat input adjusts more slowly. If one had entirely inverter derived supplies the frequency could be set from a common standard, but the problem of using all the available output would have to be tackled as well, perhaps with some small local storage. The problem should improve when we build another 20 nuclear plants, to power electric transport, but don't hold your breath!