Nuclear Clean Air Energy Facts

• Nuclear generation uses energy released from within the atom to produce electricity. Coal and gas-fired generation produce electricity using the energy released by combustion that emits greenhouse gases, air pollutants and precursors of acid rain. Among major power sources only hydro dams are more emission friendly than nuclear plants.

• Leading environmentalists such as James Lovelock, the father of global warming theories, contend that nuclear energy is essential in preserving a healthy planet for future generations. “Only one immediately available energy source does not cause global warming and that is nuclear energy.”

• It is statistically safer to work in a nuclear plant every day than in an office. Federal OSHA data shows four reportable accidents per 200,000 worker hours in all U.S manufacturing plants in 2003 and 0.7 accidents in finance, real estate and insurance offices but only 0.26 accidents in the nation’s 104 operating nuclear energy plants.

• Nuclear energy is the only available method for generating large-scale volumes of electricity with minimal greenhouse gases, air pollutants or precursors of acid rain.

• There are more than 100 nuclear energy plants in the U.S today. One hundred nuclear energy plants generate more than 670 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and release virtually no carbon dioxide during production. Producing the same amount of electricity with coal releases 177 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, with oil releases 147 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, and with natural gas releases 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

• In 2007, nuclear energy accounted for 73.6 percent of America’s clean-air generation. The other sources are hydro--22 percent--and solar, wind and geothermal combined--4.4 percent.

• Nuclear energy is America’s largest source of clean-air electricity. The industry’s commitment to the environment extends to protecting wildlife and their habitats.

• Nuclear energy has one of the lowest impacts on the environment of any energy source because it is essentially pollution free, isolates its waste from the environment and requires a relatively small amount of land.

• Nuclear power plants generate about 20 percent of U.S. electricity. By substituting for other fuels in the electricity sector, nuclear energy has significantly reduced U.S. emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

• The amount of nitrogen oxide emissions that nuclear plants prevent annually is the equivalent of taking more than 51 million passenger cars off the road.

• Nuclear generated electricity avoids almost 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year in the U.S. Worldwide nuclear energy avoids on average the emission of more than 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

• Nuclear generation avoids about one million tons of nitrogen oxide and three million tons of sulfur dioxide annually in the U.S.

• The average cost per Kilowatt hour:
Nuclear: $ 1.72
Coal: $2.47
Gas: $ 6.78
Petroleum: $10.26

• Percent of total U.S. electricity generated by nuclear: 19.4% or 806.5 billion kilowatt-hours. Source: U.S. Nuclear Generating Statistics

• Percent of worldwide electricity generated by nuclear: 14.2% or 2,608 billion kilowatt-hours. Source: World Nuclear Generation and Capacity Worldwide Nuclear Statistics

• Nuclear power plants have won praise for their environmental activities. Environmental programs conducted by nuclear plants have been recognized by the nation’s best-known environmental organizations, including the Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation, the Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, the Wildlife Habitat Council, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

• The volume of greenhouse gas emissions prevented at the nation's 104 nuclear power plants is equivalent to taking nearly all passenger cars off America's roadways.