What is Nuclear Energy ?

That’s nearly twice as reliable as coal (54%) and natural gas (55%) plants, and 2 to 3 times more reliable than wind (37%) and solar (27%) plants.

In the past 25 years, there have been over 10 major disasters with fossil fuel energy – the largest of which was the BP oil spill.

Nuclear power plants are designed to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because they require less maintenance and can operate for longer stretches before refueling (typically every 1.5 or 2 years).

The former Soviet Union was the first world power to use nuclear energy to produce electrical power. The Obninsk Power Plant came online in 1954.

NUCLEAR HELPS POWER 30 U.S. STATES
Ninety-nine commercial reactors help power homes and businesses in 30 U.S. states. Illinois has 11 reactors—the most of any state—and joins South Carolina and New Hampshire in receiving more than 50% of its power from nuclear.

The US was the second global power to allow for commercial reactors to produce electricity. The Shippingport Power Plant came online in 1957.

The US government is attempting to switch from storing nuclear waste in cooling ponds and surface casks by burying it underground in a special site on Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

NUCLEAR FUEL IS EXTREMELY DENSE
Because of this, the amount of used nuclear fuel is not as big as you think.

Nuclear energy has been quietly powering America with clean, carbon-free electricity for the last 60 years.

The federal government is facing local state opposition to this plan.

All of the used nuclear fuel produced by the U.S. nuclear energy industry over the last 60 years could fit on a football field at a depth of less than 10 yards

The United States is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power. It generated just under 805 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2017—enough to power 73 million homes. Commercial nuclear power plants have supplied around 20% of the nation’s electricity each year since 1990.

The US was the first global power to use a nuclear powered submarine.

Nuclear energy provided 56% of America’s carbon-free electricity in 2017, making it by far the largest domestic source of clean energy.

The USS Nautilus was launched in 1954. It was the first submerged vessel to travel under the North Pole and remained in service until 1980,

Nuclear power plants do not emit greenhouse gases while generating electricity.

The 104 nuclear power plants in the US are neighbors to over 3 million people, all who live within 10 miles of them.

They produce power by boiling water to create steam that spins a turbine. The water is heated by a process called fission, which makes heat by splitting apart uranium atoms inside a nuclear reactor core.

There have been three major nuclear power plant disasters which occurred in 1979, 1986, and 2011.

Nuclear fusion is the safest way to create power.

Nuclear power plants operated at full capacity more than 92% of the time in 2017—making it the most reliable energy source in America. That’s nearly twice as reliable as coal (54%) and natural gas (55%) plants, and 2 to 3 times more reliable than wind (37%) and solar (27%) plants.

It involves putting two atoms together to make one.

The nuclear accident which occurred in 1979 took 14 years to clean up.
The United States produces more nuclear energy than any other country.

The technology has never been implemented on a broad scale, so almost all nuclear power plants use nuclear fission – which splits one atom into two, and is considered more dangerous.

Nuclear power plants are designed to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because they require less maintenance and can operate for longer stretches before refueling (typically every 1.5 or 2 years).