Note: Some of the power plants shown have been shut down. In the Northwest, only one of the three plants shown is still operating, the one at Hanford.
There are 104 nuclear power plants currently in operation in the United States. For a link to the U.S. government NRC Click Here
In addition there are 23 new nuclear plant locations planned in the United States. Of this total; 2 have been suspended, 2 suspended indefinitely, 1 delayed, 2 temporarily suspended, leaving 16 in progress with opposition.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a website Project No Project I put together a summary table from that source. But if you go to the Project No Project link you can find out the current status by state of new nuclear power plants.
If you live in a state that operates a nuclear power plant you should make it your responsibility to see that these plants that are in operation are being checked and are meeting the safety guidelines that have been established. Don't assume that your government is taking care of this for you. They are not!
There was a time when I believed that nuclear power was a viable energy resource, I no longer believe that, the long-term risks that come with nuclear power grossly out-weigh the advantages. Nuclear waste, used (spent) fuel needs to be stored and transported safely. The more nuclear power plants the more spent fuel there will be to be stored.
Current nuclear plants are old, no new plants have been built in the United States since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. Long before the recent incident in Japan there have been discussions of the pros and cons of nuclear energy. Again, it is your responsibility to read the arguments and decide if it is a good thing or not. Don't sit back and think that the government is just thinking of YOUR safety when these decisions are made. Energy is BIG business, powered by BIG money and when BIG money gets to Washington it speaks with a BIG force to Congress.
If you agree that nuclear energy is not the way to go then work to see that new plants in your area are not built, check to see that plants currently in operation are meeting safety standards and work to get current plants shut down as soon as possible.
If you think nuclear energy is the way of the future then it is your responsibility to see that all safety standards are met. When accidents happened radiation isn't choosey and exposure is never a good thing. It is not good for humans, not good for plants, not good for animals. Do your homework and read the facts. You owe it to yourself, your family, your community and planet Earth!
For more information read Scientific American's article Safety Concerns Often Amount to Status Quo at U.S. Nuclear Industry's Aging Reactors
For more information read Scientific American's article Safety Concerns Often Amount to Status Quo at U.S. Nuclear Industry's Aging Reactors
I admire your effort. As for what's around my area, the answer is Indian Point, the worst plant in the country. People have been trying to get this plant closed down forever, but no luck so far. Entergy, the company that owns it, is like a company in the third world. Nothing they say makes sense and they try to hide everything from the public. They can't even do the air-siren warning thing right. The sirens always fail. Our governor is trying to kill the plant but what's already there in terms of spent fuel will have to remain there for at least 500 years. In other words, it seems quite hopeless. I'm well under 50 miles from the place. I think we all try not to think about it. Kudos to you for doing this post and the prep work for it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Annie for taking the time to research and getting the information out to your blog readers. I am going to e-mail a few of my friends to tell them to read this. I never thought of where the spent fuel is stored but I'm thinking about it now!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith and Camille for your nice comments.
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