In the last week of February Timpla Stewart-Casey and myself were able to be in the DC area to talk about nuclear power. We were involved in a panel discussion at Georgetown University. It was a very interesting discussion and a learning experience for me and Timpla.
My ‘takeaway’ from that experience, which I hope is the point we got across that evening, is that we really need to explore ALL options going into the future. There is no one right answer for the energy needs of this country. Anti-nuclear looks at nuclear power under a microscope and then makes hasty generalizations about the potential of wind and solar power.
The fact is that we have been very successful with nuclear for the past 50 years. We provide large amounts of energy with a very small number of plants. The cost to build a new power plant is large; however we supply large amounts of energy to large amounts of people. The other ‘hot’ topic is waste. We’ve been storing our waste on-site safely for the past 50 years and will continue to do so until either a national repository is created or we recycle the fuel.
The other options, although they sound like a quick fix have their struggles too. Take solar for example. A solar panel is a wonderful thing, free energy from the sun. It is similar to an enlarged computer chip which converts radiation energy into heat or electric energy. The process to manufacture one of these panels is intensive requiring many harmful chemicals in the process. Once these are installed on your roof top the problem of keeping these clean is a huge issue. Imagine needing to clean off your solar panels of bird droppings and dust and leaves on a weekly basis. Disposal is another huge issue which is rarely mentioned. Panels have a lifetime of 20-25 years. At this time the issue is very similar to nuclear, we either store or reuse.
Wind is a great option when the wind is blowing. Talk of storing the compressed air for when the wind isn’t blowing is a wonderful idea. However this will only work in certain areas and when you actually want to use that wonderfully clean compressed air to produce electricity you have to add natural gas, *gasp*, to convert it into usable electricity. Yes, it is smaller amounts of natural gas than at a natural gas plant; however the clean title has just been taken away. Wind turbines also have a life expectancy of 20-25 years, and the pay off period is 20-25 years. A company won’t make money on this unless the cost of energy goes up or cap and trade is enacted.
I really do think that we need ALL types of energy to supply the energy needs of the future. Just be fair. Every type of energy has its pros and cons but we need all to keep up with our ever increasing energy demand in the future, 23% more by 2030. Let’s use the same magnifying glass for all types of energy.
