Apparently, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is laying the groundwork for a massive expansion of nuclear power. Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) can be built on coal fired power plant sites in the country. This will help the US achieve zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050. According to a DOE study. There are 157 idle and 237 operating coal-fired power plants in the United States. Of these, 80 percent are suitable for advanced nuclear power plants, which are often smaller than currently operating nuclear power plants around the world.
The study, commissioned by DOE and by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, a leading U.S. laboratory for nuclear research, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, has 125 potential expansion sites. 64.8 GW nuclear power plants. By comparison: Palo Verde 1 and 2, the two most powerful power plant blocks in the US, each have 1.314 gigawatts. And 198.5 GW can be installed at 125 locations.
Using coal-fired power plant sites can reduce construction costs by 15 to 35 percent by utilizing existing infrastructure such as substations, cooling towers, and high-voltage lines that distribute coal-fired electricity across the country, as well as existing roads. Administrative buildings. In addition, additional land is not lost. Economic output per destination can increase by $275 million per year. Additionally, 650 permanent jobs will be created or protected.
Additionally, the study found that if nuclear power plants replaced large coal plants, emissions would drop by 86 percent in a (notional) area, equivalent to shutting down more than 500,000 internal combustion engine cars.
A lesson for Habeck
The United States is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Recently, a United in Science report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization revealed that the United States would need to cut emissions more than sevenfold by 2030 to support the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Currently the plans in the US are different. Power companies want to replace coal-fired power plants with large-scale natural gas-fired power plants. The US Energy Information Administration is talking about 14.5 gigawatts by 2022.
California aims to reach net zero by 2045. Additionally, the wealthy US government will spend a total of US$54 billion on climate projects over the next five years. There is funding for electric vehicles and public transport, forest fire prevention projects and improvements to the power grid.
Nuclear power should also be developed, though not more. California began operating in 1984/85 to upgrade two units of the 2.3 gigawatt Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant with a $1.4 billion loan to Pacific Gas & Electric, a power distribution company. until 2030 and does not have to be switched off in 2025 as previously planned. Almost three-quarters of local residents living near the nuclear power plant support further operation of the plant. This was shown in a survey by the lobby group Carbon Free California, which accepts everything that causes no local emissions.
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