Why Nuclear Power?
By DOUG CROWTHER
As the residents of the commonwealth and state lawmakers weigh the costs and benefits of mining the largest undeveloped uranium mine in the United States located in Pittsylvania County, it is important that we all remain focused on the bigger picture of the energy future of this country.
The Energy Information Administration predicts that U.S. energy consumption will increase by more than 30 percent in the next two decades. Tackling the formidable challenge of boosting our energy production in order to meet this drastic increase in demand will require us to optimize all of America’s technical ingenuity and natural resources.
As part of a common sense approach, let’s set some ground rules to compare the various energy sources that will power America’s future: the source should be abundant in the U.S., relatively affordable, environmentally friendly, safe, reliable, and it should require a minimal amount of land-use.
Let’s start by considering the three major hydrocarbons we currently rely on for the vast majority of our energy – coal, natural gas and oil.
Because of its abundance in the U.S. and low cost, we can expect coal to be in our energy mix for decades.
It is, however, a major source of pollution – not only CO2, but also fly ash and toxins like sulfur, mercury and lead.
The cost of reducing these pollutants by capturing, sequestering and permanently storing them underground may be prohibitive. Despite being a prolific polluter and despite the environmental risks inherent in large-scale coal mining, coal still meets several of our criteria – abundance, low cost, high density, domestic supply and reliability. Common sense tells us that we will continue to need it and use it for many years to come.
Since the recent discovery of new rock-fracturing methods, natural gas is now abundantly available in the U.S., and its use for the generation of electricity will continue to expand. Burning gas does produce CO2, but less than coal does and without the other toxins. Delivery and storage systems are susceptible to interruption and slowdowns that can cause unpredictable fluctuations in price. Despite these drawbacks, overall natural gas meets most of our common sense principals and will be an ongoing supplier to our energy needs.
Then there’s oil petroleum, on which we are almost entirely dependent for our transportation system.
Oil suffers from two major drawbacks – reliance on foreign supply and carbon monoxide pollution. Today we can supply about one-third of our needs domestically, while we import 70 percent. Although we could increase the share we produce domestically, we do not have enough resources to be entirely self-reliant and this will require tough decisions from our political leaders. We know there are other risks – the current crisis in the Gulf is a good example – nevertheless common sense tells us this is going to be a major part of our lives for the foreseeable future.
Now let’s consider the major new “green” technologies – wind, solar and nuclear.
While wind and solar energy do not produce carbon monoxide or other pollutants, they fail to meet several other common sense criteria. Both are significantly more expensive than every other source of electricity. Unfortunately, most wind and solar generation occurs nowhere near population centers, so the electricity must be transmitted great distances at a significant cost. And, because the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, wind and solar power stations must always be backed up by an alternate source, usually stand-by gas-powered turbo-generators.
Wind turbines utilize powerful magnets made from rare earth elements known as lanthanides. Solar photovoltaic cells also depend on them. Unfortunately, China has a de facto monopoly on lanthanides and lithium required solar storage batteries are largely found outside of the U.S., mostly in South America.
Wind and solar energy are also land-use intensive, requiring vast tracts of land to generate a relatively modest supply of electricity.
This leads us to nuclear power. It is the one source that meets all of our common sense principles.
Nuclear power is far less expensive than wind and solar and uses only a minute fraction of the land these renewable use. Nuclear is also virtually carbon emissions free and does not release any of the dangerous pollutants – sulfur, mercury and lead – proliferated by coal. Nuclear plants are three and four times more efficient than wind and solar facilities, respectively, and more than twice as efficient as natural gas-fired plants.
The U.S. generates 20 percent of our electricity from 104 nuclear reactors. Twenty-six more are on the drawing board or in the licensing phase and more are undoubtedly in the planning stage. When they are built they will need uranium fuel.
While the U.S. is currently reliant on Russia, Russian satellites, Australia and Canada for roughly 85 percent of our nuclear fuel, we have the capacity to rely on our own domestic uranium resources. The Coles Hill uranium deposit in Pittsylvania County – which could single-handedly fuel Virginia’s nuclear power for more than 65 years – is just one example of America’s vast reservoir of domestic uranium.
To further increase our domestic capabilities we could also follow France’s example and develop a spent fuel reprocessing system that will recover unburned uranium and plutonium that can be recycled and reused in the same nuclear power plants.
No other energy source can match the safe, reliable, efficient, cost-effective and environmentally benign power of nuclear plants and a complete fuel cycle. I am hopeful that our leaders make common sense decisions about expanding nuclear power and developing the uranium ore deposit in Pittsylvania County.
Doug Crowther has a degree in marine engineering from New York State Maritime College and retired as a commander in naval intelligence from the U.S. Navy. He also is retired from Babcock & Wilcox’s Naval Nuclear Fuel Division, where his experience included design engineering, project management and business planning. He lives at Blenheim, a cattle farm in Campbell County.
