Jun 25, 2011

Expert: Shutting Down U.S. Nuclear Plants Would Have Daunting Effect on Economy, Environment

"To replace the nuclear plants located in counties with populations over half a million with wind power would require the construction of 25,000 large wind turbines on land greater than one and half times the size of Rhode Island,"  -EP Online

Given time and enough investment, some of the generation lost by shutting down nuclear plants could be made up by developing renewable resources and improving energy efficiency, but the size of the potential shortfall is daunting.

Shutting down nuclear power plants will have significant economic and environmental consequences, according to a new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and DAI Management Consultants Inc. Shifting from nuclear to other types of power plants could affect the reliability of the electricity supply, electricity costs, air pollution, carbon emissions, and the reliance on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, the researchers said...

Additional statistics and an interactive tool to investigate the economic and environmental impacts of shutting nuclear power plants in the US can be downloaded here