Flip a light switch, recharge a phone or swipe your card at the store and you are relying on one of our most important national infrastructures: the electricity grid. Nuclear energy is by far the largest source of carbon-free electricity that can supply power around-the-clock. Our increasingly digital lives are demanding more and more from our grid. And the most dependable, clean source of energy powering that grid is nuclear.
Nuclear is uniquely positioned to decarbonize other parts of our infrastructure as well, such as transportation and a variety of industrial energy uses.
Addressing America’s Energy Infrastructure Problem
Investments in electricity grid upgrades and expansions have not kept pace with Americans’ increasing power needs.
To close the “infrastructure gap,” we first need to maintain as much of our around-the-clock power capacity as possible. This means preserving our existing nuclear plants. Once a nuclear power plant is prematurely shuttered, it’s gone forever, and a critical piece of energy infrastructure is squandered. The nation also then loses the key benefits of nuclear energy: reliable, resilient, carbon-free electricity, along with thousands of well-paying jobs.
We are reaching a tipping point. We see states, regions and the federal government taking actions to preserve our nuclear power plants. They recognize that these plants constitute critical infrastructure that is too valuable to lose.
Essential to Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicle (EV) makers have the right idea: reduce harmful emissions that are harming our environment, our health, and our climate. However, EVs are only as "clean" as the energy they use.
As more consumers purchase EVs, the demand for electricity in the United States will also increase. Hybrid cars, battery-powered cars and electric trains still rely on fossil fuels for manufacturing, batteries and recharging. By some estimates, charging an electric vehicle at night in certain coal-dependent areas can generate more emissions than a gasoline-powered car. Nuclear energy can play the pivotal role in complementing growing shares of wind and solar energy to ensure our charging stations are powered by a steady stream of reliable, carbon-free electricity.
To achieve a future transportation system that is truly carbon-free, the entire supply chain of EVs must be carbon-free too. EV manufacturers, battery manufacturers and recharging stations can all harness nuclear technology to power clean transportation.
Decarbonization Through Hydrogen Production
The manufacturing and transportation sectors make up 45% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Advanced nuclear is designed to provide carbon-free energy in new and innovative ways and will have valuable applications such as carbon-free hydrogen and ammonia production and high-temperature industrial heat that can decarbonize heavy industrial processes.
Hydrogen and ammonia can also be utilized as an alternative engine fuel that is emission-free, which can help decarbonize vehicles like large trucks or cargo ships that are difficult to power with batteries. Hydrogen is also compatible with combustion engines and could play a major role in the energy landscape as a substitute for fossil fuels. Globally, the hydrogen market is expected to surpass oil trade by 2050.
The next generation of nuclear power has the potential to not only decarbonize our energy sector, but decarbonize other parts of the economy as well.
The Total Package: Nuclear’s Unique Value
Nuclear power offers a unique combination of attributes that are especially suited to improving our energy infrastructure. No other single fuel source combines supply reliability, clean energy and high generation capacity—all while being a local, state and national economic engine—like nuclear does.
Superior Reliability
We can count on nuclear plants to generate a steady supply of power around-the-clock, 24/7. And when demand spikes during a heat wave or polar vortex, straining other energy supplies, nuclear plants fill the gap to prevent widespread power outages in our cities and towns. Nuclear power plants also keep up to two years of fuel on-site and do not depend on specific weather conditions or pipelines as some other energy sources do.
Enormous Clean-Air Compliance Value
Nuclear power plants produce half of the nation’s carbon-free electricity—far more than wind, solar or hydropower. Fewer emissions mean fewer air-polluting substances linked to asthma and other diseases—which is good news for public health. Nuclear power also fights climate change by enabling states to avoid significant annual carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. With nuclear energy, states can meet emissions reduction goals without reducing their ability to keep the lights on and the electricity costs down in their communities.
Large-Capacity Power Generation
Nuclear reactors produce incredible amounts of electricity; nuclear plants represent less than one percent of U.S. power stations, yet produce nearly 20 percent of U.S. electricity. In an average year, nuclear reactors in the U.S. generate enough electricity to power over 70 million homes for the entire year. Nuclear power plants also run at an industrywide average of nearly 93 percent of their capacity, generating electricity at a much more efficient rate than other sources of electricity.
Boost to Local Economies
Energy infrastructure assets like nuclear power plants provide far-reaching financial benefits to communities and state economies. The nuclear energy sector supports about 475,000 jobs and produces over $12 billion annually in federal and state tax revenues. And a single nuclear power plant creates 500 to 800 jobs and can operate for 60 to 80 years or more.