Nuclear and the Environment
Nuclear Power Plants are Good for the Environment
Nuclear power plants are good for the environment—and good to the environment. Nuclear plants don’t pollute the air. They don’t produce any carbon dioxide—the major greenhouse gas—or any sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. The small amount of waste that a nuclear plant produces is carefully contained and safely stored. Radiation levels are checked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In fact, nuclear plants have such a low impact on the environment that plants are often surrounded by nature parks or wildlife sanctuaries.
Facts on the Environment
- Nuclear power produces no controlled air pollutants during daily operations, unlike many other electricity sources.
- The use of nuclear power to generate electricity avoided emissions of nearly as much carbon dioxide as is released from all U.S. passenger cars combined.
- According to the University of Wisconsin, the life cycle emissions of nuclear energy are lower than coal, natural gas, hydropower, biomass, and solar. The only electricity sources with lower life cycle emissions are wind and geothermal.
- Nuclear energy accounts for 90 percent of all electric utility savings in carbon dioxide emissions since 1973.
- Water discharged from a nuclear power plant contains no harmful pollutants and meets regulatory standards for temperature designed to protect aquatic life.
- Nuclear power plants require less land area than all other energy sources – which aids conservation and wildlife efforts across the US. Many nuclear plants actually have wildlife sanctuaries onsite, because of the negligible impact on the surrounding area.
