The Ecological Advantages of Nuclear Power

Abstract:     
Major electric utilities are deciding whether to build nuclear power plants. How will their decision affect ecological processes and systems, both in the United States and globally? The article makes three arguments: (1) if nuclear power plants are not built, the gap will be filled by more coal-fired power plants; (2) the impact of coal-fired power plants on ecological processes and systems is likely to be increasingly disastrous; and (3) nuclear power’s ecological impacts are likely to be neutral or even positive.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 52

Keywords: nuclear power, energy, ecological impact

JEL Classification: K32

Accepted Paper Series