For decades, France has been ahead of the curve in the essential transition away from fossil fuels. Though France hasn’t been much faster than the United States (or the global average, for that matter) in its uptake of renewable energy sources, the nation has pioneered the widespread deployment of nuclear power, a long-neglected source of clean, safe, and practical energy. Despite this, the growth of American nuclear power has slowed in recent decades. To protect our planet, people, and national security, America must follow in France’s footsteps in dramatically expanding our policies — and our ideas — towards nuclear power.
Firstly — and most importantly, given the significance of the climate crisis to our planet’s health — nuclear power provides clean energy. Nuclear energy is one of our only options to reduce our carbon footprint at the levels needed to meaningfully combat climate change, and it’s one of the cleanest ones. Contrary to popular belief, nuclear power emits slightly less lifetime greenhouse gasses than renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and hundreds of times less than fossil fuels. There’s also room for nuclear power’s efficiency to grow as investment into advanced nuclear fusion technology matures. Existing nuclear power also fills a significant gap in the capability of renewable energy, as solar power, wind power, hydropower, and geothermal energy are all limited by location and conditions, whereas nuclear power plants can be built anywhere in the nation. Thus, the versatility of nuclear energy makes it a necessary complement to other clean energy technologies, and a clear superior to the fossil fuels currently dominating America’s energy mix.
Nuclear is also one of the world’s safest power sources. Though high-profile nuclear accidents have shaped public opinion to focus on the perceived dangers of nuclear power, it has actually claimed only slightly more lives than comparable clean energy sources and is orders of magnitude less deadly than fossil fuels (when accounting for deaths caused by air pollution as well as accidents). Coal ash, a common byproduct of coal power plants, is a more radioactive pollutant than nuclear waste. Today’s American nuclear energy is even safer than these historical statistics suggest, because — devastating though they are — nuclear accidents are most often the result of less mature nuclear programs. We’ve learned from our technical mistakes to the point that the US Navy and many foreign nations like France trust nuclear power with their greatest energy demands — so it’s past time the American domestic market and public opinion caught up in recognizing the safety of nuclear power.
Finally, prioritizing nuclear power is simply the practical choice for America’s future. One of nuclear power’s greatest advantages is that it can operate regardless of the location of natural resources or climate conditions. This guarantees that American nuclear power can remain within the United States, whereas alternative forms of energy are often imported to the nation. Not only can this employ skilled American workers; it also provides an important national security advantage where safeguarding state-of-the-art (and, in the wrong hands, extremely dangerous) technology is concerned. Keeping energy domestic also allows America to reduce its strategic dependence on potentially hostile nations — namely the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a group of (largely undemocratic) oil-exporting nations that have been known to deliberately drive up energy costs to American consumers. In an era where nations are seeking to challenge America’s global positioning, energy production and technology must remain in the hands of American workers and away from hostile regimes — and nuclear power is a sure way to accomplish that.
Today, the climate crisis is an existential threat to the United States and the world. All the while, energy production continues to claim far too many lives and our reliance on foreign energy producers is becoming more and more of a strategic liability. Nuclear power is the clearest option to address these threats — and it’s a technology with abundant unexplored potential. Americans must open their minds and work towards something we have been all too eager to ignore: our nuclear way forward.
