NUCLEAR

​​Why should new plants be built in the United States?

"The U.S. Department of Energy projects that demand for electricity in the United States will rise 22 percent by 2040. That means our nation will need hundreds of new power plants to provide electricity for our homes and continued economic growth. "

Maintaining nuclear energy's current 20 percent share of electricity production will require building one reactor every year starting in 2016, or 20 to 25 new reactors by 2040, according to DOE forecasts.Fourteen companies and consortia are studying, licensing or building 26 reactors in the United States. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing six combined license applications from five companies and consortia for ten nuclear power plants." (Nuclear Energy Institute)

COLORADO

IDEAS

Why can't we decide what to do about nuclear energy?  Build them up? Or tear them down?
https://www.popsci.com/what-to-do-about-nuclear-energy
      By Mary Beth Griggs January 8, 2018

"....a handful of other nations are ­accelerating toward a nuclear future. China, in trying to reduce its expanding reliance on coal, is aggressively pushing for more alternative fuels, with plans to increase its nuclear capacity to as much as 150 gigawatts by 2030, up from about 38 gigawatts in 2017. It is adding 20 new reactors to its current fleet of 37.


Russia is building seven, India six, and South Korea three. China, in particular, is pursuing novel reactor designs expected to run more cheaply, efficiently, and safely than those the world has used for decades. The most common today is the light water reactor, in which water cools solid nuclear fuel and generates turbine-spinning steam. Alternatives include a variation on the light water reactor called a small modular reactor that, in theory, could be built quickly and inexpensively, though its design will put out less energy. Another is a molten salt reactor that employs melted salts to cool fuel and produces less waste than the current fleet.


Critics warn that the U.S. is giving up on a reliable energy source and leaving itself vulnerable to strategic threats."

Plans for New Reactors Worldwide
(from World Nuclear Organization)
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx
(update to July 2019

Reference links for Petroleum, Mining, Water, Nuclear Energy, and Politics.

          Trends>>

Each year, millions of people die from exposure to cooking-fire smoke or polluted water.

Energy applied in technologies can provide clean heat and water; access to inexpensive, abundant energy is the answer to avoiding premature deaths of millions of people. Saving lives or letting people die becomes a political divide.

Meanwhile: nuclear-powered submarines have been cruising the oceans of the world, defending the USA since 1955.


Marine nuclear performance for electrical power generation, with characteristics of small size, long-life, and safety can be adapted to land for cities, towns, factories and homes.


Consider smaller-scale application designs, in contrast to large municipal nuclear power plants. Nuclear power has the promise of unlimited, inexpensive power for US citizens.

 Are US citizens denied access to this proved powerful  and safe technology? China, Russia, and India are moving ahead with more nuclear power plants.