Is nuclear power one of the answers to energy independence?

Is nuclear power one of the answers to energy independence for America?

One of the discussion in energy talks for our country is possibly building more nuclear power plants. Today, more than 15% of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear power.

The United States produces the most nuclear energy, with nuclear power providing 19% of the electricity it consumes, while France produces the highest percentage of its electrical energy from nuclear reactors, 87.5% in 2008. In the European Union as a whole, nuclear energy provides 30% of the electricity.

In France, as of 2002, Électricité de France, the main electricity company, operates 59 nuclear power plants. This makes EDF the world leader in production of nuclear power by percentage. France is the world’s largest net exporter of electric power, exporting 18% of its total production (about 100 TWh) to Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, and Germany, and its electricity cost is among the lowest in Europe.

Historically, nuclear power was supported both by the Gaullists, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party. A 2001 poll found that 70% of the French population had a “good opinion” of nuclear energy in France and 63% want their country to remain a nuclear leader. According to reporter Jon Palfreman, the construction of the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant was welcomed by the local community in 1997:

“In France, unlike in America, nuclear energy is accepted, even popular. Everybody I spoke to in Civaux loves the fact their region was chosen. The nuclear plant has brought jobs and prosperity to the area. Nobody I spoke to, nobody, expressed any fear.”

A variety of reasons are cited for the popular support; a sense of national independence and reduced reliance on foreign oil, reduction of greenhouse gases, and a cultural interest in large technical projects.

Click here for more information on nuclear power
Click here for more information on nuclear power in France.

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Tags: civaux nuclear power plant, communist, edf, Électricité de France, france, gaullists, jon palfreman, nuclear power, socialist, united states

4 Responses to “Is nuclear power one of the answers to energy independence for America?”

Paul Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Nuclear definitely is one of the answers. Most of the fears of meltdowns are unfounded considering modern reactor designs.

Waste still needs to be taken care of, but once we can shoot the stuff into space we’ll be a-okay. I’ll trust the Yucca Mountain facility to hold up until that time.
Mark Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
If the French can do it, it can’t be that hard. Really, we just need to override the so called “environmentalists” (who the late George Carlin correctly identified as people just looking a for a clean place to park their Volvos) and point out that Nuclear Power is carbon neutral.

I’ve been quoting Doctor Pournelle on the subject:
I have to say it again: cheap energy will cause a boom. The only cheap energy I know of is nuclear. Three Hundred Billion bucks in nuclear power will do wonders for the economy. We build 100 1000 MegaWatt nuclear power plants — they will cost no more than 2 billion each and my guess is that the average cost will be closer to 1 billion each (that is the first one costs about 20 billion and the 100th costs about 800 million). The rest of the money goes to prizes and X projects to convert electricity into mobility.
web design company Says:
August 19th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Wait till one breaks. They were lucky Cheney and Bush didn’t plant malicious software like in the Soviet Union. (Maybe)
Clifford Says:
September 6th, 2008 at 12:36 am
There have only been two (2) nuclear meltdowns in the history of nuclear reactors. We all know about the disaster that happened at Chernobyl. But the first nuclear melt down happened in the United States, in the state of Idaho. It was completely contained with only one life lost. Growing cities still exists very close to the meltdown site. That same site was also used this week to store spent fuel from other reactors around the country.
In the cost of human life alone nuclear power far surpasses coal in safety. How many miners were lost in the mine collapse in Utah last year? How about we go to West Virginia and look at how many miners have lost their lives there in mine collapses? Nuclear power workers take a lot of safety precautions and they take them very seriously. Nuclear power is not dangerous as far as meltdowns are concerned. As Paul mentioned the newest generation nuclear reactors make those claims unfounded. Quite simply because they have those safety precautions in place for that worst case scenario.