Saturday, November 09, 2013

Does Nuclear Power Have a Place in a Low-Carbon Future?

Vermont Yankee is licensed to keep running until 2032. But it will close next year, a victim of cheap natural gas. Click to enlarge. (Credit: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
The process used to generate electricity from decaying nuclear fuel creates a laundry list of toxic and radioactive byproducts along with plutonium, a man-made element that can be used to make nuclear weapons.  What you won't find on that list, however, are substantial amounts of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.  Nuclear energy may not be clean, but without it, a climate-neutral energy system may be far more difficult and expensive to achieve.

Does Nuclear Power Have a Place in a Low-Carbon Future?

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