Nuclear Energy in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii Generated
11,410,403 (MWh) of electricity in 2004.
In 2006 the Pacific Grid (CA, OR, WA, AK, HI) will consume:
11.584 quadrillion Btu’s of electricity
By 2030, the Pacific Grid will require:
16.125 quadrillion Btu’s of electricity per year, a 28% increase.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: If a new nuclear plant were built in Hawaii, it would create?
- 1,400 to 1,800 construction jobs, with the majority of those jobs at the plant site.
- 400-500 full-time, skilled professional workers.
- 400-500 jobs created in surrounding communities.
- $500 million a year into the economy.
- Employees at U.S. nuclear plants earn salaries approximately 40 percent higher than the average earnings in communities near the plants. The average annual salary for nuclear engineers was $80,000 in 2003.
CLEAN AIR BENEFITS: A nuclear power reactor in Hawaii would?
- Prevent the emission of pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and greenhouse gases like CO2 associated with burning fossil fuels.
- Emissions of SO2 lead to the formation of acid rain and NOx is a precursor of both ground level ozone and smog. Greenhouse gases, like CO2, are said to contribute to global warming.
LAND and HABITAT PRESERVATION:
- Because nuclear power plants produce a large amount of electricity in a relatively small space, they require significantly less land for operation than all other energy sources.
- To build the equivalent of a 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant, a solar park would have to be larger than 35,000 acres, and a wind farm would have to be 150,000 acres or larger.
A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY:
- One uranium fuel pellet — the size of the tip of your little finger — is the equivalent of 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal, or 149 gallons of oil.