Hot for nukes

A professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at the University of Arkansas asserts that any effort to combat global warming will likely fail if it doesn’t include building more power plants.

Cecil Cogburn, in this essay published by The Morning News of Springdale, notes that “despite studies that show it would be possible to reverse the rise in carbon dioxide levels by expanding the use of nuclear power, the Obama administration and many members of Congress seem too wrapped up in trendy renewable-energy sentiment to recognize this.”

Cogburn believes Congressional direction to produce 25% of the nation’s electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2025 is “not practical” because such power sources are not constant and the nation’s electric grid is not built to feed solar and wind power into the system.

“Economic reality — not vague arguments about the benefits of green power — ought to inform decisions vital to the future of the United States and the world. Since nuclear power provides 73 percent of the carbon-free electricity produced in the United States and is the only non-polluting energy source that can supply ‘base-load’ power, any serious approach to greenhouse-gas reduction must focus on removing the impediments to its increased use.”

Cogburn interesting points on the issue include:
• Although nuclear power was first deployed in the United States, many other countries in Europe and Asia are now ahead of us.

• The American public seems to be ahead of its political leaders in supporting nuclear power, with 74% of Americans favoring nuclear power and most approving the construction of new nuclear plants.

• Nuclear power plants in the United States have an excellent operating record, and used fuel is being stored safely at plant sites. In 2008, the capacity factor of the 104 U.S. nuclear plants was a near-record 91.1%. By comparison, the capacity factor for coal plants is about 70%; gas-fired plants, 40%; wind and hydro, 30%; and solar, 20%.

• Nuclear power is currently the least-cost and largest source of zero-emissions base-load electricity. Although the cost of building a nuclear plant is high, its fuel costs are relatively low. Nationally, in 2007, the latest year for which data is available, the production cost of nuclear-generated electricity was 1.76 cents per kilowatt-hour, which was cheaper than coal at 2.5 cents and natural gas at 6.7 cents.