Skip to main content

Michael Stuart vs. The Anti-Nukes

One week ago today, we pointed to an op-ed piece in the Clarion-Ledger by anti-nuclear activist Ruth Pullen that pulled out all of the old tropes about the dangers of nuclear energy. In today's paper, NEI Nuclear Notes contributor Michael Stuart fired back:
At present, 80 percent of the nation's electricity comes from either fossil fuels or nuclear energy. How can we meet the nation's energy needs while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels without nuclear energy?

Each year, the burning of fossil fuels pours more and more pollution into the atmosphere resulting in thousands of deaths from mining accidents and respiratory distress. According to many scientists this also brings us much closer to the point of no return in global warming.

But, the good news is that we do not have to choose between plentiful, inexpensive energy and global warming. The technology to produce energy in a clean and efficient manner -- nuclear energy -- has been used and steadily improved over the last 50 years.

The nuclear industry is the only form of electrical generation required to contain its waste. Since a small amount of uranium about the size of the tip of your little finger has the energy equivalent of about 2,000 pounds of coal, the amount of waste it produces is extremely small, and since it remains solid, it is easily contained.

Last year, in Mississippi alone, nuclear energy avoided the emission of 47,800 tons of sulfur dioxide, 16,300 tons of nitrogen oxide, and 9.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

What's more amazing is that used nuclear fuel should not be called "waste," since approximately 95 percent of the energy is still contained in it. It should be reprocessed and recycled as fuel for future energy supplies.

Ruth Pullen is right: It's only "myths" that indicate nuclear power is not the best choice. However, the facts indicate that nuclear power is a far better choice than the alternatives.

Perhaps this is why so many environmentalists including Dr. James Lovelock and Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore have publicly voiced their support for nuclear energy.
Thanks again to Michael for stepping up.

Technorati tags: , , , , ,

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should