Very Low: 4 to 6 grams pf CO2 per kilowatt-hour.<\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuclear energy, to be fully useful and cost effective, requires a national program with standardized nuclear facilities and high level wastes reuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If individual electrical utilities do their own thing, construction costs will be much higher, and delays will be much longer. Recycling of high-level nuclear waste will cost more, if it is desired and possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even without a national program, nuclear energy does more for the environment. It does\u2019t require storage, and\/or backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French experience:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France uses less fossil fuel to generate electricity than any other nation. It has shown what is possible with national sponsorship: CO2 emissions of the nuclear system have been as low as 3.7 grams per kilowatt hour<\/strong>. A nuclear power plant\u2019s CO2 use in construction and in operation, based on a 40 year life, has been 0.6 grams per kWh. The CO2 used in mining, enrichment, storage and treatment of fuel rods has been 3.1 grams per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-09-at-8.58.48\u202fAM-1-1800x1011.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/span>(Source: https:\/\/www.edf.fr\/sites\/groupe\/files\/2022-08\/edfgroup_acv-4_synthese-etude_20220823.pdf<\/a>).
<\/p>\n\n\n\nNinety-six percent of highly radioactive French nuclear waste is recycled, providing 10% of the country\u2019s nuclear energy. <\/span>Only 200 cubic meters (18 ft. x 20ft. x 20ft.) of highly reactive long-lived waste is produced each year, even though 70% of French electricity is from nuclear. <\/span>This is vitrified and stored at present, but will soon be buried. Sources: <\/span>https:\/\/www.orano.group\/en\/unpacking-nuclear\/all-about-radioactive-waste-in-france; https:\/\/www.orano.group\/en\/2021-misconceptions\/for-59-of-the-french-public-non-recyclable-waste-production-is-the-main-drawback-of-nuclear-energy<\/a>).
<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnfortunately, the historical data above is no longer valid.\u00a0 <\/span>In 2016 the French company Le Creusot was found to have been supplying substandard steel forgings \u2014 falsifying its records; and in 2023 stress cracks were found in pipes.\u00a0 <\/span>Additionally , extra shielding is now being added to certain reactors where earthquake is a danger. During the extreme drought of 2022-2023A nuclear plants along rivers ran out of\u00a0 <\/span>water and ceased operation.\u00a0 <\/span>Consequently, in early 2024 a majority of French nuclear plants were under repair. \u00a0<\/span>Given this history, I am guessing that French nuclear power will emit over its lifetime 5 grams of CO2 peWh rather than the 3.7 historical.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrance has a degree of standardization, organization, and experience unlikely to be found in other nations. Since less than 1 gram was used in construction of the plant, f<\/span>or argument\u2019s sake I will increase the French CO2 experience to : <\/span> 6<\/i> grams of CO2 per KWH<\/i>.<\/i>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nNOTE: <\/span>I am unapologetic for my imprecise, back of the envelope approach based upon historical results. <\/span>It makes it easy to follow the logic, and the accuracy is sufficient to draw conclusions.<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n2)Nuclear Energy: Is it safe?<\/h4>\n\n\n\nYes it is.<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\nA) <\/span>It is very, very hard to make bombs using the fuel of present water-cooled reactors.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nB) Reactors have many fail-safe provisions to prevent melt downs, but even if meltdowns were to occur, scarcely any radiation will be released. <\/span>The Fukushima earthquake-caused core meltdowns that may result in 7 early deaths.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nC) The amount of radiation per year released to the nearby environment by a nuclear plant is about the same as an X-ray and far less than an MRI; it is a minuscule fraction of background radiation from the atmosphere.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D) Reactors are built to withstand crashes from jets and they have guards and security systems. <\/span>There are many easier ways of creating mass casualties.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nE) There are approximately 440 nuclear power plants in the world. <\/span>The average age of a nuclear power plant in the United States has been about 42 years and in Europe well over 30. <\/span>Chernobyl\u2019s total 90 deaths should not be counted as it used a clearly unsafe technology not used anywhere elsewhere. in the world. <\/span>Fukushima may cause 7 early deaths. <\/span>The other roughly 438 nuclear power plants, operating for dozens of years, had 0 deaths.<\/b>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nF) There are fewer deaths in supplying uranium and constructing nuclear plants than there are in making solar batteries and constructing wind and solar.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
G) There is very little risk from storage of high-level nuclear waste. Nuclear waste cannot be made into nuclear bombs. <\/span>Wastes are vitrified, and then have been safely stored on site. Burial for eons is possible.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is Nuclear Energy’s Footprint?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Nuclear energy provides 10% of the world\u2019s electricity, so there is good data.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The average nuclear facility produces 1,051 megawatts of electricity, with a 90% online presence, over a 40 year life (or much more).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the average footprint we have USA data: (https:\/\/www.nei.org\/news\/2022\/nuclear-brings-more-electricity-with-less-land<\/a> ): 1.37 square miles. \u00a0 Thus only 920 square meters<\/strong> \u00a0is used per 100,000 megawatt hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow long does it take to construct a Nuclear Power Plant?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-09-at-11.06.00\u202fAM-1381x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nImage is from https:\/\/www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com\/p\/nuclear-construction-time<\/a>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nOther pages of this site: How much CO2 does wind electricity save?<\/a>
How much CO2 does solar electriciity save?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1) What are the CO2 emissions of Nuclear Power? Very Low: 4 to 6 grams pf CO2 per kilowatt-hour. Nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-107","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions\/496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France uses less fossil fuel to generate electricity than any other nation. It has shown what is possible with national sponsorship: CO2 emissions of the nuclear system have been as low as 3.7 grams per kilowatt hour<\/strong>. A nuclear power plant\u2019s CO2 use in construction and in operation, based on a 40 year life, has been 0.6 grams per kWh. The CO2 used in mining, enrichment, storage and treatment of fuel rods has been 3.1 grams per kilowatt-hour (kWh). <\/span>(Source: https:\/\/www.edf.fr\/sites\/groupe\/files\/2022-08\/edfgroup_acv-4_synthese-etude_20220823.pdf<\/a>). Ninety-six percent of highly radioactive French nuclear waste is recycled, providing 10% of the country\u2019s nuclear energy. <\/span>Only 200 cubic meters (18 ft. x 20ft. x 20ft.) of highly reactive long-lived waste is produced each year, even though 70% of French electricity is from nuclear. <\/span>This is vitrified and stored at present, but will soon be buried. Sources: <\/span>https:\/\/www.orano.group\/en\/unpacking-nuclear\/all-about-radioactive-waste-in-france; https:\/\/www.orano.group\/en\/2021-misconceptions\/for-59-of-the-french-public-non-recyclable-waste-production-is-the-main-drawback-of-nuclear-energy<\/a>). Unfortunately, the historical data above is no longer valid.\u00a0 <\/span>In 2016 the French company Le Creusot was found to have been supplying substandard steel forgings \u2014 falsifying its records; and in 2023 stress cracks were found in pipes.\u00a0 <\/span>Additionally , extra shielding is now being added to certain reactors where earthquake is a danger. During the extreme drought of 2022-2023A nuclear plants along rivers ran out of\u00a0 <\/span>water and ceased operation.\u00a0 <\/span>Consequently, in early 2024 a majority of French nuclear plants were under repair. \u00a0<\/span>Given this history, I am guessing that French nuclear power will emit over its lifetime 5 grams of CO2 peWh rather than the 3.7 historical. France has a degree of standardization, organization, and experience unlikely to be found in other nations. Since less than 1 gram was used in construction of the plant, f<\/span>or argument\u2019s sake I will increase the French CO2 experience to : <\/span> 6<\/i> grams of CO2 per KWH<\/i>.<\/i> NOTE: <\/span>I am unapologetic for my imprecise, back of the envelope approach based upon historical results. <\/span>It makes it easy to follow the logic, and the accuracy is sufficient to draw conclusions.<\/em> A) <\/span>It is very, very hard to make bombs using the fuel of present water-cooled reactors. B) Reactors have many fail-safe provisions to prevent melt downs, but even if meltdowns were to occur, scarcely any radiation will be released. <\/span>The Fukushima earthquake-caused core meltdowns that may result in 7 early deaths. C) The amount of radiation per year released to the nearby environment by a nuclear plant is about the same as an X-ray and far less than an MRI; it is a minuscule fraction of background radiation from the atmosphere. D) Reactors are built to withstand crashes from jets and they have guards and security systems. <\/span>There are many easier ways of creating mass casualties. E) There are approximately 440 nuclear power plants in the world. <\/span>The average age of a nuclear power plant in the United States has been about 42 years and in Europe well over 30. <\/span>Chernobyl\u2019s total 90 deaths should not be counted as it used a clearly unsafe technology not used anywhere elsewhere. in the world. <\/span>Fukushima may cause 7 early deaths. <\/span>The other roughly 438 nuclear power plants, operating for dozens of years, had 0 deaths.<\/b> F) There are fewer deaths in supplying uranium and constructing nuclear plants than there are in making solar batteries and constructing wind and solar. G) There is very little risk from storage of high-level nuclear waste. Nuclear waste cannot be made into nuclear bombs. <\/span>Wastes are vitrified, and then have been safely stored on site. Burial for eons is possible. Nuclear energy provides 10% of the world\u2019s electricity, so there is good data. The average nuclear facility produces 1,051 megawatts of electricity, with a 90% online presence, over a 40 year life (or much more). For the average footprint we have USA data: (https:\/\/www.nei.org\/news\/2022\/nuclear-brings-more-electricity-with-less-land<\/a> ): 1.37 square miles. \u00a0 Thus only 920 square meters<\/strong> \u00a0is used per 100,000 megawatt hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Image is from https:\/\/www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com\/p\/nuclear-construction-time<\/a> Other pages of this site: How much CO2 does wind electricity save?<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1) What are the CO2 emissions of Nuclear Power? Very Low: 4 to 6 grams pf CO2 per kilowatt-hour. Nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-107","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions\/496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n2)Nuclear Energy: Is it safe?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Yes it is.<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is Nuclear Energy’s Footprint?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow long does it take to construct a Nuclear Power Plant?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How much CO2 does solar electriciity save?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n