The Benefits of Nuclear Energy ( http://www.fi.edu/guide/wester/benefits.html)
Nuclear energy is the world's largest source of emission-free energy. Nuclear power plants produce no controlled
air pollutants, such as sulfur and particulates, or greenhouse gases. The use of nuclear energy in place of other
energy sources helps to keep the air clean, preserve the Earth's climate, avoid ground-level ozone formation and
prevent acid rain. Of all energy sources, nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment,
including water, land, habitat, species, and air resources. Nuclear energy is the most eco-efficient of all energy
sources because it produces the most electricity relative to its environmental impact.
Nuclear power plants were responsible for nearly half of the total voluntary reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions reported by U.S. companies in 1998, the Energy Information Administration reported on January 4,
2000. Emission reductions from nuclear energy usage reported by the electric power sector increased by 43
percent from an estimated 70 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent for 1997 to 100 million metric tons
carbon dioxide equivalent for 1998. That 100 million metric tons equals 47 percent of the 212 million metric tons
of carbon emissions reductions reported nationwide, according to EIA. Between 1973 and 2000, nuclear
generation avoided the emission of 66.1 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 33.6 million tons of nitrogen oxides.
Each year, U.S. nuclear power plants prevent 5.1 million tons of sulfur dioxide, 2.4 million tons of nitrogen oxide,
and 164 million metric tons of carbon from entering the earth's atmosphere.
How do nuclear power plants reduce emissions?
The U.S. Clean Air Act standards assume nuclear energy. The U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970 and related regulations set
federally mandated limits on the emission of certain pollutants for states and regions of the country. Both nuclear
and fossil power plants operate in those states and regions. Air quality standards established under the Clean Air
Act have been calculated, in fact, presuming that 20 percent of the nation's electricity will continue to be produced
by non-emitting nuclear energy, and that 30 percent total will be non-emitting generation. This is on a national
basis. The percent actually varies from state to state, with many states in "non-attainment" areas that have been
unable to achieve air quality standards being more heavily dependent on nuclear energy.
Nitrogen oxides, a precursor of ground-level ozone, provides a good example of how nuclear energy helps the
energy industry meet its clean air compliance. Under recent rules, the Environmental Protection Agency
established a cap on this controlled pollutant for 21 eastern states. This NOx SIP Call Rule allocates this total cap as
an emission limit for each state. The cap for all of these states is 565,000 tons, while actual NOx output in 1997
was 1,346,350 tons. If electricity generation sources that emit harmful gases were to replace nuclear, these states
would produce an additional 131,867 tons, even if their emission rate meets the level required by the SIP Call Rule.
That replacement generation alone would use up 31 percent of the combined caps for each state even before all
other industries are brought into the calculation. Some states would face a significantly greater burden: South
Carolina would lose 86 percent, Connecticut 65 percent, Illinois 47 percent, Virginia 46 percent, Pennsylvania 41
percent, and New Jersey 40 percent of their respective caps without nuclear energy.
Environmental benefits
Of all energy sources, nuclear energy has perhaps the lowest impact on the environment especially in relation to
kilowatts produced because nuclear plants do not emit harmful gases, require a relatively small area, and
effectively minimize or negate other impacts. In other words, nuclear energy is the most "ecologically efficient" of
all energy sources because it produces the most electricity in relation to its minimal environmental impact. There
are no significant adverse effects to water, land, habitat, species, and air resources.
Nuclear energy is an emission-free energy source because it does not burn anything to produce electricity. Nuclear
power plants produce no gases such as nitrogen oxide or sulfur dioxide that could threaten our atmosphere by
causing ground-level ozone formation, smog, and acid rain. Nor does nuclear energy produce carbon dioxide or
other greenhouse gases suspected to cause global warming. Throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, the small volume
of waste byproducts actually created is carefully contained, packaged and safely stored. As a result, the nuclear
energy industry is the only industry established since the industrial revolution that has managed and accounted for
all of its waste, preventing adverse impacts to the environment.
Nuclear power also provides water quality and aquatic life conservation. Water discharged from a nuclear power
plant contains no harmful pollutants and meets regulatory standards for temperature designed to protect aquatic
life. This water, used for cooling, never comes in contact with radioactive materials. If the water from the plant is
so warm that it may harm marine life, it is cooled before it is discharged to its source river, lake, or bay as it is
either mixed with water in a cooling pond or pumped through a cooling tower.
Because the areas around nuclear power plants and their cooling ponds are so clean, they are often developed as
wetlands that provide nesting areas for waterfowl and other birds, new habitats for fish, and the preservation of
other wildlife as well as trees, flowers, and grasses. Many energy companies have created special nature parks or
wildlife sanctuaries on plant sites.
Nuclear power plants provide land and habitat preservation. Because nuclear power plants produce a large
amount of electricity in a relatively small space, they require significantly less land for operation than all other
energy sources. For instance, solar and wind farms must occupy substantially more land, and must be sited in
geographically unpopulated areas far from energy demand. To build the equivalent of a 1,000-megawatt nuclear
plant, a solar park would have to be larger than 35,000 acres, and a wind farm would have to be 150,000 acres or
larger. By contrast, the Millstone Units 2 and 3 nuclear power plants in Connecticut have an installed capacity of
over 1,900 megawatts of power on a 500-acre site designed for three nuclear plants. Also, uranium is a
concentrated, low-volume fuel source requiring few incursions into the land for extraction or transport.
Nuclear plants are so environmentally benign that they enable endangered species to live and thrive nearby. Such
endangered species as osprey, peregrine falcons, bald eagles, red-cockaded woodpecker, and even the beach tiger
beetle have found a home at nuclear power plants. Programs also protect species that are not endangered, such as
bluebirds, wood ducks, kestrels, sea lions, wild turkeys, and pheasant. In contrast, certain wind farms pose a
hazard to endangered bird species. Bald eagles and other birds of prey are apparently mesmerized by the
movement of the propellers and fly directly into them. Moreover, depletion of protected birds of prey results in an
increase in the pest population that was their food source. For instance, all the birds of prey in the Altamont pass
of California have been killed by a wind farm, and the city of Livermore developed a rodent infestation due to their
absence.
Economic Benefits of Nuclear Power
Nuclear power plants provide low-cost, predictable power at stable prices and are essential in maintaining the
reliability of the U.S. electric power system. Nuclear power is a major national energy source. Nuclear energy is our
nation's largest source of emission-free electricity and our second largest source of power. The 103 U.S. nuclear
units supply about 20 percent of the electricity produced in the United States. The only fuel source that produced
more electricity was coal.
Nuclear plants also contribute to national energy security and ensure stable nationwide electricity supply. As an
integral part of the U.S. energy mix, nuclear energy is a secure energy source that the nation can depend on. Unlike
some other energy sources, nuclear energy is not subject to unreliable weather or climate conditions,
unpredictable cost fluctuations, or dependence on foreign suppliers. In fact, nuclear energy is a strong domestic as
well as international industry, with extensive fuel supply sources. Nuclear power plants are large units that run for
extended periods. They help supply the necessary level of electricity, or "baseload generation," for the electricity
transmission network, or "grid," to operate. U.S. nuclear power plants are a key element in the stability of our
country's electrical grid.
Nuclear power plants have long periods of operation. Nuclear power plants are designed to operate continuously
for long periods of time. They can run about 540 days before they are shut down for refueling. The longest
continuous run by a light water reactor is Three Mile Island, Unit 1, in Pennsylvania, which completed a 688-day
run. The longest run of any type of reactor is 894 days, achieved by the Pickering 7 plant, a heavy-water reactor in
Ontario, Canada (Canadian CANDU reactors can be refueled while operating).
An increased capacity factor results in an increase in the production of electricity by nuclear plants. The increase
from 1998 to 1999 alone amounted to about 50 billion kilowatt-hours more electricity, for a total of 720 billion
kilowatt-hours. That is roughly equivalent to adding six to seven one-thousand-megawatt nuclear reactors to the
U.S. nuclear fleet. The increase in electricity produced using nuclear energy from 1990 to 1999, 143 billion kilowatt
hours, is the equivalent of adding 19 one-thousand-megawatt nuclear reactors to the U.S. fleet.
The costs involved in producing electricity at a nuclear power plant, operations and maintenance plus fuel, have
been declining over the past decade. In 1998 the average production cost for the U.S. nuclear fleet was 2.13 cents
per kilowatt-hour, down from 3.04 cents in 1988. In addition, there are no unexpected additional costs.
Power plants have future price stability. A nuclear power plant can leverage its high degree of future price stability
by selling at a premium to large users an assured source of electricity supply at a known price. For instance,
presently some users in California are willing to pay this premium to protect themselves against the damaging
effects of price volatility in the day-ahead market.
Abundant fuel with low cost and stable price.
US nuclear power plants use an enriched form of uranium for fuel. Uranium is a relatively abundant element that
occurs naturally in the earth's crust. Uranium oxide is about as common as tin. In 1998, 16 countries produced over
99 percent of the world's total uranium production. Canada's and Australia's uranium mines account for 46
percent. Compared to natural gas, a fuel also used to generate electricity, uranium is already relatively low in cost
and less sensitive to fuel price increases. And a little goes a long way: one uranium fuel pellet-the size of the tip of
your little finger-is the equivalent of 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal, or 149 gallons of oil.
Despite popular belief, nuclear plants are relatively safe. For years, America's commercial nuclear energy industry
has ranked among the safest places to work in the United States. In 2000, its industrial safety accident rate-which
tracks the number of accidents that result in lost work time, restricted work or fatalities-was 0.26 per 200,000
worker-hours. By comparison, the accident rate for US private industry was 3.1 per 200,000 worker-hours in 1998the last year figures are available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even if you lived right next door to a nuclear
power plant, you would still receive less radiation each year than you would receive in just one round-trip flight
from New York to Los Angeles. You would have to live near a nuclear power plant for over 2,000 years to get the
same amount of radiation exposure that you get from a single diagnostic medical x-ray.
Questions (please copy on your own paper and answer):
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What is meant by saying nuclear energy is “emission-free?”
What are 2 pollutant gases that are often emitted by other sources of energy such as coal-burning?
What states would be greatly affected by the cap on nitrous oxides without having nuclear energy?
How is water quality and aquatic conservation affected by nuclear energy?
What is the main source of fuel for nuclear energy?
What is the advantage of nuclear energy over solar energy and wind power plants?
About how long can a nuclear power run before it must be shut down for refueling?
What was the average cost for producing electricity with nuclear power per kilowatt-hour in 1998?
How does the cost of nuclear power fuel compare with other sources such as oil & coal?
Explain how being close to a nuclear power plant is safer than getting an x-ray or flying across the country.