You Decide

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detail of green leaf, child gazing at colling towers, red radioactivity symbolImage CreditShould the United States build more nuclear power plants?

  • Yes? But have you considered...
  • No? But have you considered...

…nuclear power is the least practical option for reducing greenhouse gases?

With so many states already getting behind clean energy, why take a chance on an energy source we know is lethal?

Take California: State law requires that by 2020, greenhouse gases will be reduced 20 percent from 1990 levels. That same law mandates an 80 percent reduction by 2050.

Yes, the state relies on electricity from three existing nuclear power plants—two in Southern California and one in Arizona—but it’s not planning to break ground on new nuclear facilities to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals. Instead, California is relying on a diverse electricity menu that includes energy efficiency, large solar plants, wind farms and combined heat-and-power units that capture excess heat from industrial operations.

In this green energy environment, building new nuclear reactors is not only outdated, but also impractical. The Sierra Club estimates that for nuclear energy to have a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a new nuclear reactor would have to come on-line every 45 days—an impossible schedule, as it now takes up to 10 years to build and license a single nuclear power plant.

Large solar and wind power plants, by contrast, can come on-line in a few years. In 2007 alone, the United States added 5,200 megawatts of wind power. In 2008, energy companies signed contracts for more than 5,000 megawatts of solar electricity. Meanwhile, we’ve been debating nuclear power for decades, and so far we haven’t seen a single new plant come on-line.

When compared with wind power, solar power and energy efficiency, nuclear power is a waste of time and effort.
 

Considering this, should the United States build more nuclear power plants?


Nothing about the issues facing America today is black and white. With these You Decide activities, you can explore both sides of an issue, put your own critical thinking to work, and discuss the pros and cons with others. In the end, perhaps you will ask different — and better — questions than those presented here.

 

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