Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Natural gas has a variety of uses including
home heating, cooking, and transportation.
Leaks can cause fires and explosions.
Natural gas cannot spill and contaminate soil,
groundwater, or surface waters.
Liquefying the gas into liquefied natural gas can be costly.
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear Power
Currently, 31 countries produce electricity using nuclear power. Another ten countries have announced plans to
build nuclear-generating power plants. The United States is the single largest producer of electricity from nuc-
lear power, at 101,111 MW of capacity, which in 2008 accounted for approximately 19.7 percent of the United
States production of electricity. France is the second largest producer of electricity generated by nuclear power
plants, accounting for 76.2 percent of its total electrical power. Following are the top five countries in capacity
and the top five countries in percentage of electrical production. Only France makes both lists. The dates for
the data are 2007 and 2008.
The use of nuclear-generated electrical power grew rapidly in the United States from the early 1960s until the
late 1980s. However, since the late 1980s, the use of nuclear power in the United States has declined. Reasons
for the decline include huge cost overruns, higher-than-expected operating costs, safety concerns, issues with
the disposal of nuclear waste, shorter-than-expected life of nuclear power plants, and a perception that nuclear
power is a risky financial investment. Two historical nuclear incidents that played a role in the decrease in nuc-
lear power in the United States were the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania on March 28, 1979, and
the accident at Chernobyl, in what was then the Soviet Union and is now the Ukraine on April 26, 1986. The
2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, resulting from an earthquake and subsequent
tsunami, may change the face of nuclear energy. This event will most likely alter the public's perception of
nuclear energy, as well as the safety controls and procedures of nuclear power plants near coastlines and major
fault lines.
There was a renewed interest in building additional or replacement nuclear power plants in the United States
until the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. This interest was due to the increased need
for electrical power, which outstrips the current capacity of traditional power plants, an increase in fossil-fuel
prices, and a concern about the release of carbon dioxide by fossil-fuel plants and the subsequent link to global
warming.
