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Going Green? Think Nuclear

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(NewsUSA) - Many leading environmentalists agree that nuclear energy should be a force in mitigating the impact of climate change.

Thirty years ago, even some scientists had a misplaced fear of nuclear energy. Today, environmentalists have a bigger concern -; climate change. Ironically, the unfounded threat from the past might solve the current crisis. Nuclear energy could help reverse global warming.

Although Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens have failed to address nuclear solutions in their recent speeches, prominent environmentalists like Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, and James Lovelock, the author of the Gaia theory, write that nuclear technology is a must-use source of carbon-free electricity, with an enviable safety record.

The truth is in the numbers. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute (http://www.nei.org), America's nuclear power plants prevent 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year. That's equivalent of the exhaust from 100 million cars.

People might consider nuclear energy with a wary eye, but today's technology proves safer than generating coal-based electricity. No civilian has died from radiation since the U.S. started its nuclear energy programs.

In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Standards, it is safer to work in the nuclear industry than in the manufacturing sector and even the real estate and financial sectors.

Nuclear energy plants use water, but they do not consume it. Most of the water used in nuclear power plants returns to its source, never making contact with the plant's reactor. Nuclear plants use between 26 and 42 gallons of water per household per day. The average American household uses 315 gallons of water per day.

Nuclear "waste" also proves a misnomer. Currently, the U.S. is working on creating a nuclear fuel recycling system. Used nuclear fuel still contains 95 percent of its energy. A recycling program could render nuclear energy practically renewable.

Nuclear energy also is competitive in the electricity market. U.S. nuclear power plants operated at 92 percent of capacity in 2007, with electricity production cost at a record-low 1.76 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to coal at 2.47 cents and natural gas at 6.78 cents.

One hundred four nuclear power plants currently operate in the U.S. They produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity -; and none of its carbon dioxide emissions.