In Brief: Let’s Go Nuclear
The Inflation Reduction Act continues to throw money at green energy — its focus should be on nuclear, the best clean-energy solution.
Kids these days. They’re all about screaming about the climate in a misguided effort to save the planet. Fortunately, not all of them. Jack Wolfsohn, a college senior writing for National Review, has his head on straight when it comes to the right kind of energy to secure our future. Writing about the Democrats’ “risibly named” Inflation Reduction Act, Wolfsohn says that too much of that bill is dedicated to all manner of ineffective or less-than-desirable “green” energy efforts. Instead, “A much-better way to mitigate the effects of climate change while reliably producing energy, however, is nuclear.”
While Wolfsohn notes that the Democrat bill does include a “zero-emission nuclear power production” credit and some other carrots for nuclear development, U.S. policy should be so much more.
Nuclear energy produces energy through nuclear fission and therefore emits no carbon. This also removes pollutants from the air that cause maladies including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Contrary to popular belief, nuclear energy is the safest energy source. It provides 20 percent of America’s electrical generation and more than 70 percent of non-greenhouse-gas-emitting electrical generation in the U.S. Wind farms and solar farms require 360 and 75 times more land area, respectively, than nuclear plants do. Moreover, nuclear energy produces little waste: All the nuclear waste produced in the U.S. since the late 1950s could fill a football field about ten yards high. Nuclear energy also has the highest capacity factor of any energy source, generating maximum energy 92.5 percent of the time, compared with 35.4 percent of the time for wind and 24.9 percent of the time for solar. Just as important as its environmental benefits, the nuclear industry employs almost half a million Americans and adds around $60 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product every year.
Nuclear energy has seen various advancements in recent years that have made it more efficient, smaller, and safer. The reactors have advanced safety features such as the ability to automatically shut down. Some of the new models have novel fuel sources. New molten-salt and liquid-metal reactors will operate at higher temperatures, which could increase efficiency. Some new nuclear-reactor designs include small modular reactors (which are easier to construct and smaller than normal reactors), salt- and sodium-cooled reactors (enabling reactors to run at higher temperatures and lower pressures), micro reactors (tiny reactors that are mobile), and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (using inert gas such as helium rather than water for cooling).
Nevertheless, he concludes, “Partly owing to the influence of the green-energy lobby, we have not fully embraced nuclear energy.” In fact:
Production of nuclear power reached its highest point in 2012, with 104 operating reactors; today, only 92 reactors are still operating. Since 2013, twelve nuclear reactors have closed, and seven others have announced plans to close in the next few years. The Department of Energy warns that a quarter of our nuclear power plants are at risk of shutting down. We must reverse this trend. Instead of doling out billions of dollars for green energy, we should use that money to build more advanced nuclear reactors. Until green energy has the storage capacity to support America’s energy needs, nuclear energy is the best solution to mitigate the effects of climate change.
