Nuclear positives
Published: Tue, May. 01, 2007 12:00AM
Modified Tue, May. 01, 2007 03:01AM
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closeIt seems production of more nuclear waste as a stumbling block to building new nuclear plants is only in the minds of the anti-nuclear power groups ("Nuclear foes see danger in waste, news story, April 15).
Electric utilities have made their intentions official that they wish to build at least 30 nuclear plants in the coming years, including plants in the Carolinas. Public opinion about nuclear energy, already generally supportive, continues to grow as people learn more about the effects of burning fossil fuels. With the alternatives for producing electricity mostly the burning of more fossil fuels, it seems dealing with the relatively small amounts of nuclear waste is not nearly that big a problem.
To put it in perspective, the volume of high-level nuclear waste you could attribute to a person if all his electricity for one year came from nuclear would be about the size of an aspirin bottle. Certainly we must properly dispose of used nuclear fuels, and it is expected that the facility under development at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, will serve that purpose.
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In the world of energy, there are no perfect answers, only better and worse choices.
W.D. Walker
J.B. Duke professor emeritus, Duke University
Durham
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