William Atkins
Saturday, 28 March 2009 20:40
Science -
Energy
Page 2 of 4
Over the past thirty years procedures and devices have been invented and installed on existing nuclear reactors to make nuclear power generation much safer than before.
According to The Wall Street Journal article
Nuclear-Power Industry Enjoys Revival 30 Years After Accident,
“The U.S. has 104 reactors from the earlier wave of construction, which generate about 20% of the nation's electricity.”
And, several new nuclear power plants are at various stages of being proposed, drawn up and designed.
In fact, applications for 26 new reactors have been submitted to the NRC, with approvals for the first of them coming as early as 2011 and a possible first one on-line by 2016.
The TMI accident in 1979 stopped further nuclear power plants from being built in the United States for thirty years.
The ones already in operation have continued to operate, including the one at Three Mile Island. Together, as stated earlier, they provide about 20% of the electricity needed in the United States.
And, now, with great concerns over the quality of our atmosphere, the promise of greenhouse-gas free electricity from nuclear power has prompted a resurgence in their popularity.
Page three continues with our energy alternatives, including nuclear.
