Atomic Balm? - New York Times

Atomic Balm? - New York Times:

A major article in the Times Sunday Magazine describing the re-emergence of nuclear powerin the U.S. The data below is useful information as the debate continues to unfold. In Vermont, approximately 35% of the base load demand is produced by Vermont Yankee.

Nuclear generated electricity will again grow in the U.S. because there is no other long-term economically viable source for the increasing demand. Conservation will help slow the pace of growth but not eliminate it.

As I have often expressed, wind power for Vermont is 'feel-good' energy contributing little to the real dilemma: 2/3 of Vermont's electrical capacity is generated by nuclear and hydro, both sources that are not guaranteed beyond 2012-2015. We do not have the luxury of the wind power debate. We'd best decide where we will get our baseline power sooner ratehr than later.


"All told, the 103 active nuclear reactors in the United States supply about 20 percent of our electricity. And in some places the contribution is much larger. New York gets 29 percent of its power from nuclear energy, New Jersey 52 percent. Abroad, nuclear energy has its hot spots too;? in France, for instance, 78 percent of the electricity comes from nuclear energy. There are currently 337 working reactors in 30 countries outside the United States, and there may soon be many more, as India and China embark upon ambitious plans to build dozens over the next decade to satisfy their thirst for electricity."

Some further data from the article...

"Less than 3 percent of our electric power is generated from oil. Besides the 20 percent contribution from nuclear power, 50 percent of our electricity comes from burning coal, 18 percent from burning natural gas and (in a heat-free method that is often the cheapest) 6.5 percent by harnessing the energy of water moving through dams. Wind and solar power make up less than one-half of 1 percent of what we use on a typical day."