Pop Quiz: Nuclear Power in the USA
by Dominic Muren, Philadelphia, USA on 05. 5.08
Answer: C) 20%
There are 104 nuclear power plants operating in the United States, accounting for roughly 20% of the nation's electricity supply. In contrast, nuclear power supplies 80% of France's electricity needs, with 59 nuclear power plants in operation in the country.
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Maybe I am doing my math wrong, but France's plants look like they are only 75% as efficient as USA's in providing power. Corrections or insight would be appreciated :)
you have to think of it as how many people live there, Not effeicency and our country is so much bigger than France.
I just realized something... So if we built about 416 more nuclear power plants... then America's electricity would be covered entirely by a carbon-neutral source? I'm amazed that this didn't occur to me sooner...
Still though, personally, I think a large portion of that should be solar thermal and wind. I used to think that nuclear would be a huge part of the answer to global warming, but now I'm thinking that solar thermal might be better answer...
If the choice is coal or nuclear, nuclear is better.
But if the choice is nuclear or solar thermal... I'm thinking why not solar?
Although for the time being, the choice seems to be coal vs nuclear, so nuclear is the best choice in the interim...
But what about the waste? It has a half-life of 10,000-25,000 years—that is, it will be around that long or longer. And with all the waste produced, what happens to it? Right now the majority of it sits in huge steel and concrete containers waiting to deplete.
Nuclear power is not a sustainable alternative. While it might be "better" than fossil fuel–derived energy, it is far from "green." "Carbon neutral" isn't much more than tricky language.
"Although for the time being, the choice seems to be coal vs nuclear, so nuclear is the best choice in the interim..."
I've been trying to get people to realize the choice is coal or nuclear for a long time!
Wind and solar is great, don't get me wrong, but what percentage can we handle for wind and solar? If it's cloudy and windless, how many businesses and factories would tolerate being shut down?
416 is a LOT of new nuclear plants to build, and sadly we rely on imported fuel for them to an extent, dismantled Soviet nuclear weapons - reduce, reuse, RECYCLE :)
I wonder when we will realize we need more nuclear plants, and how much longer it will take to get them.