Nuclear Energy Is NOT a Climate Solution.

Nuclear Energy Is NOT a Climate Solution.

Nuclear Energy is NOT a Climate Solution.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

■ Fact #1: Nuclear energy has a large carbon footprint.

  • Uranium mining, milling, plant construction, fuel enrichment, and waste storage are energy intensive.
  • Decommissioning is a carbon-intensive process as equipment and buildings are dismantled and transported to disposal sites over a period of 60 years or longer.

■ Fact #2: Nuclear energy is not clean. It is toxic and dangerous.

  • Radiation is routinely released into the air and water as part of operations.
  • Accidents happen: Three Mile Island. Chernobyl. Fukushima.
  • There is no safe, just, permanent solution for the isolation of over 80,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste for the million years that it will remain lethal.
  • Nuclear facilities are vulnerable targets of terrorism.
  • Fact #3: Nuclear energy is not reliable in a climate Nuclear facilities are vulnerable targets of terrorism. disrupted world; its demands on water are not compatible with a warming planet.

■ Fact #3: Nuclear energy is not reliable in a climate Nuclear facilities are vulnerable targets of terrorism. disrupted world; its demands on water are not compatible with a warming planet.

  • Under global warming conditions, water is fast becoming a precious commodity.
  • Reactors consume billions of gallons of water daily and return heated water which undermines our waterways and destroys aquatic life.
  • During droughts and heatwaves, the warmer water requires nuclear plants to power down or even shut down altogether.
  • Water levels are rising. Many of the nuclear plants located along waterways will eventually become submerged, making the plants inoperable and the stored radioactive waste even more vulnerable.

■ Fact #4: Nuclear energy is too expensive.

  • Nuclear energy is at least three times as expensive to produce as solar or wind, and the price of renewables continues to drop while the cost for nuclear continues to rise.
  • The nuclear industry is able to survive only because of huge tax-payer subsidies.

■ Fact #5: Nuclear energy impedes the development of renewable energy sources.

  • An efficient, responsive, and flexible grid is required to respond to energy demands.
  • Nuclear cannot adapt to changing demands.
  • The nuclear industry draws needed resources away from renewable energy expansion.

■ Fact #6: Given the climate crisis, we can’t wait.

  • We need to move rapidly to an efficient, low-cost, sustainable energy system.
  • Nuclear projects take 10 to 20 years to complete. Solar and wind projects take just 2 to 5 years to come online.

MORE:

Dec 16, 2024 Joint Comments of Council on Intelligent Energy & Conservation Policy (CIECP) and Promoting Health and Sustainable Energy (PHASE) to New York State Energy Planning Board and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Re: Draft Scope of the New York State Energy Plan
Mar 2021 Report Summary. 2021. UCS. “Advanced” Isn’t Always Better (Lyman, Mar 2021)
May 2022 ~WASTE – Study Summary. 2022. SMR Waste (Krall, Ewing, Macfarlane, May 2022)

Nuclear Power Is Dead

Multiple issues in Europe are highlighting the case against nuclear power: the weaponizing of nuclear reactors, as seen at Zaporizhia in Ukraine; over half of France’s reactors shut down because of overheated rivers, corrosion damage, and staff shortages; the ever growing amount of nuclear waste; the colossal expense to construct and operate nuclear plants; inflexibility of supply, etc.

Too Slow, Too Expensive, Too Dirty

Nuclear energy is not a climate solution, because all new nuclear reactors take 10-19 years or more between planning and operation, and costs 4-5 times per kWh as new wind or solar energy.
There is no such thing as a zero- or close-to-zero emission nuclear power plant. Even existing plants emit due to the continuous mining and refining of uranium needed for the plant. All plants also emit from the water vapor and heat they release. This is in contrast with solar panels and wind turbines. “Evaluation of Nuclear Power as a Proposed Solution to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Security” (by Mark Jacobson, Stanford University):

Industrial Promotion

The nuclear power industry spends a large amount of money on lobbying, campaign contributions, and advertising in its efforts to manipulate the public’s concerns about the climate crisis and energy insecurity, so that it can promote nuclear power as “clean energy.”
In reality, nuclear energy is a dirty, dangerous, and expensive form of energy that poses serious risks to human health, national security, and U.S. taxpayers.
“Nuclear Energy is Dirty Energy” – Nuclear Information & Resource Service
Dirty, Dangerous and Expensive: The Truth About Nuclear Power” – Physicians for Social Responsibility
Climate change and nuclear power: An analysis of nuclear greenhouse gas emissions – Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen report link [PDF]
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