James McGovern reports that nuclear power has endured a rough year. Safe and efficient reactors in Wisconsin and Vermont have been shuttered. Tighter regulations. A Congressional impasse over nuclear waste storage. But despite these difficulties, nuclear power still contributed about $60 billion to the economy, accounted for 475,000 full-time jobs, and helped keep electricity prices low, thanks to the outstanding performance of a fleet of about 100 nuclear plants that produced electricity, on average, nearly 92 percent of the time, according to a study done for Nuclear Matters, a national pro-nuclear organization.
Even though nuclear power share of the total electricity-generating capacity has slipped slightly, it supplies 800 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, about a fifth of the U.S. power. And most importantly, it accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. low-carbon energy. Without nuclear power, the amount of electricity provided by fossil fuels would soar. Natural gas would rise by almost half, from 26 percent to 39 percent of total energy in 2015, and coal generation would increase by 16 percent, from 38 percent to 44 percent of total generation.
This year, in New Jersey, nuclear power is contributing $1.6 billion to the state economy, and 11,700 jobs.
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Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-