Key Issues

 Nuclear power plants aid compliance with the Clean Air Act of 1970, which set standards to improve the nation's air quality. Because they generate heat from fission rather than burning fuel, they produce no greenhouse gases or emissions associated with acid rain or urban smog. Using more nuclear energy gives states additional flexibility in complying with clean-air requirements.

• Fact sheet on the environment

 The Clean Air Act of 1970 established limits on the emission of nitrogen oxides (NO_x ), a precursor of ground-level ozone and smog; sulfur dioxide, which produces acid rain; particulate matter, such as smoke and dust; and mercury. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed extensive regulations to reduce nitrogen oxides through creation of the Ozone Transport Commission and the NO_x Budget Program—both initiatives created under the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 to help reduce ground-level ozone in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Nuclear power plants do not produce these criteria pollutants.