The Amy H Remley Foundation  
   
     
 

National View

The nation needs a policy to effect a transition from current diverse sources of electrical energy to newer technologies curbing atmospheric pollution, taking advantage of all available increases in both supply side and demand side efficiencies in order to reduce national debt and improve national security. New nuclear facilities should only be sited where there is no risk of contaminating increasingly scarce fresh water supplies.

Systemic generation inefficiencies exist when there is no way to store electricity generated in times of off peak or lower seasonal demand. When viewed as actual annual kWh(e) output achieved compared to "Summer rate capability" across the nation the supply side loss is highly significant. These losses are recoverable by adopting Renewable Electrolysis (RE).

In RE, electrical energy is captured and stored as compressed hydrogen gas (released by electrolysis) which can be re-converted into electricity using fuel cells to meet base load up-turns in demand. RE enables GHG intensive plants to be phased out sooner. RE complemented over time by new renewable energy sources - wind or solar photo voltaic arrays - enable the cleaner technologies to provide base load without environmental compromise. Modular RE units can be sited near substations serving population centers eliminating environmental and fiscal costs of additional transmission corridors.

However, the nuclear industry lobby is extremely powerful. In a decade the lobby invested $645million to influence politicians in state and federal government and $63million in campaign contributions to have proponents elected to office.

The United States nuclear industry is attempting to promote nuclear power to revive a dying technology, intent on starving out new forms of renewable energy in the process. Including forgoing the ability to store electricity by employing RE and increasing supply side generating efficiencies.

A Council on Foreign Relations report explains that even if the production of nuclear energy remained at its current capacity in the U.S., just replacing the current fleet over the next 40 years would be extremely difficult given our 30–year nuclear hiatus since the Nine Mile Island disaster.

With no safe storage like Yucca Mountain, Nevada, in sight, the hazard of highly radioactive used fuel rods in our midst remains, awaiting terrorism or accident to perpetrate massive releases of radioactivity.

Moreover, in a decade the two uranium enrichment plants in the United States, each powered by dedicated large coal fired electricity generation facilities, in addition to GHG released 87% of all Chlorofluorocarbon-114 (CFC-114), the ozone layer destruction agent in America, equal to 14% of world wide emissions. The claimed cost benefits of nuclear power reflect substantial government (taxpayer) subsidies, and deny the costs of nuclear waste "disposal" over the longer term.

AREVA, seeking new markets and perceiving the favorable political climate in the United States, is proposing a massive Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) of 1600MW(e) for the Culvert Cliffs site, in Maryland.

To view an interesting video of Karl Grossman interviewing Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear, click here.

For further detail click to access the EnergyJustice.net fact sheet.

In his book "Carbon-free and Nuclear-free" Ajun Makhijani, 2007, asserts that by 2040 the United States can phase out nuclear and fossil fuels from is energy and vehicular transport sectors provided that both supply and demand side efficiencies are maximized.

View additional pages on Nuclear Energy at:

News and Views
News Items

November 30, 2013
On environment, shortsightedness costs Florida big.
Scott Maxwell, Taking Names.
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October 9, 2013
Fuel Cell Today analysis.
The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2013.
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September 25, 2013
Fuel Cell Today analysis.
The Potential for Fuel Cell Prime Power in Japan.
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August 1, 2013
Duke Energy to cancel proposed Levy County nuclear plant.
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May 22, 2013
Fuel Cell Today analysis.
Electrolysers for Renewable Energy Efficiency.
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March 13, 2013
Beyond Electricity: Using Renewables Effectively.
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September 24, 2012
Sewer Systems Legal Filing.
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February 1, 2012
Fuel Cell Today update.
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January 13, 2012
Sewer Agenda.
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December 23, 2011
Scientist: Water account overdrawn.
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Novemver 14, 2011
Submission to the Citrus County Commissioner, 14 November, 2011.
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