Nuclear energy key weapon in battling global warming

By Barry Ganapol Copyright 1998 Arizona Republic November 23, 1998

Now is the time to drop the taboo against nuclear energy and accept the idea that nuclear-generated electricity will be essential in the battle against global warming.

Unlike power plants that burn coal, oil and natural gas, nuclear stations generate large amounts of electricity without loading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas.

Sure, solar and wind will also help, and there's always room for major improvements in energy efficiency, but since 1973, nuclear power has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2 billion tons. More than any other electricity source. Rather than an option, nuclear energy is almost certainly going to be a necessity.

As the French have shown, nuclear plants using the basic American reactor design can be built quickly and designed to run efficiently and safely. In addition, the French are using technology for safe storage of used nuclear fuel.

Since the early 1980s, the French have combined radioactive waste with molten glass and placed the mixture in stainless steel cylinders, storing the cylinders in an underground building at a government installation until a permanent deep repository becomes available. But in this country, the White House and Congress cannot agree on an interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel. Indeed, the waste issue is more in the political rather than the scientific arena.

Constructive steps should be taken now. The Department of Energy needs to complete its scientific assessment of a proposed waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. That effort will require full funding by Congress, using the money that consumers of nuclear-generated electricity have, in good faith, paid since 1982 to the Federal Nuclear Waste Fund.

Extending the original 40-year operating licenses of nuclear plants must be made a top priority. Licenses of more than a third of the nation's 105 nuclear plants are scheduled to expire in the not-too-distant future.

Unless the Nuclear Regulatory Commission renews these licenses, utilities in many parts of the country will be forced to replace nuclear energy with additional fossil fuel generation, primarily coal. Switching to fossil fuels would cause more air pollution and even higher levels of greenhouse emissions and would hasten the onset of global climate change.

We also need a more rational approach to environmental regulation. Although our system for air cleanup has been remarkably successful and is emulated by many other countries, the way it is currently implemented could be improved significantly.

Instead of granting tradable credits worth tens of millions of dollars exclusively to coal-fired plants that comply with air quality regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency should adopt a fairer system that awards equal benefits to emission-free energy sources such as renewables and nuclear power.

The need for equity takes on greater urgency with the shift to a competitive, restructured electricity industry. The Energy Information Administration, the data-gathering branch of the Energy Department, warns that as many as 24 of the nation's nuclear plants may close prematurely, reducing U.S. nuclear capacity significantly. At the same time demands on coal plants would rise dramatically with a commensurate increase in pollution.

Closing down nuclear plants turns every part of the country into a non-attainment area under the 1990 Clean Air Act.

With nuclear energy, we have a source of electricity for new energy-efficient technologies that can be an important player in averting climate disruption. Let's take care not to allow ideology to interfere with the practical means for dealing with this potentially devastating environmental problem.

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