Resources & Stats
Environment: Emissions Prevented
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Avoided
According to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Information Administration report "Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases 1997" (published June 1, 1999), the single most effective emission control strategy for utilities was to increase nuclear generation.Increased nuclear capacity and improved efficiency at nuclear power plants since 1993 represents one-third of voluntary carbon dioxide reductions from U.S. industries. In 2007, nuclear energy accounted for about 74 percent of U.S. emission-free generation.
Total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased from the 1990 baseline of 6,113 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to 7,147 million metric tons in 2005.
Nuclear generated electricity avoids almost 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year in the U.S. This figure is equivalent to the amount of reductions needed to achieve the 1990 levels agreed to in the United Nations Climate Change Treaty signed in Rio de Janiero in 1992.
Without the emission avoidances from nuclear generation, required reductions in the U.S. would increase by more than 50 percent to achieve targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
Worldwide nuclear energy avoids on average the emission of more than 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Nuclear Generation Produces No Criteria Pollutants
Nuclear generation avoids about one million tons of nitrogen oxide and three million tons of sulfur dioxide annually in the United States.As part of the U.S. EPA Acid Rain Program , 21 states from 1990-1995 showed a 16.4 percent increase of nuclear generation that avoided 480,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (37 percent of the required emissions reduction).
Under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, no credit was allocated to nuclear plants. But, based on the average value of publicly traded sulfur dioxide credits, this contribution would have been worth about $50 million.
Viewpoints on Nuclear Energy
Key Issue: Protecting the Environment
Nuclear energy is America's largest source of clean-air, carbon-free electricity, producing no greenhouse gases or air pollutants. The industry's commitment to the environment extends to protecting wildlife and their habitats.