{"113781":{"#nid":"113781","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Future of Nuclear Energy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast March, the world watched closely as Japan struggled\nto contain a series of equipment failures, hydrogen explosions and releases of\nradioactive materials at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe historic tsunami following the 9.0-magnitude\nearthquake destroyed the reactors\u2019 connection to the power grid, causing them\nto overheat. Hundreds of people were exposed to increased levels of radiation.\nThousands more were evacuated. Although Japanese officials have since declared\nthe plant stable, the cleanup will be expensive and is expected to take\ndecades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA year later, however, the United States is moving\nforward with nuclear power. For the first time since 1978, the National Regulatory\nCommission has approved two new plants. The $14 billion facilities will be\nbuilt just outside Augusta and operated by Atlanta-based Southern Company.\nThey\u2019re scheduled to be up and running by 2016 and 2017 and should produce\nabout 10 percent of Georgia\u2019s power.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s smart to continue generating nuclear power in the\nUnited States,\u201d said Marilyn Brown, professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of\nPublic Policy. \u201cIt is a reliable, cost-competitive option that doesn\u2019t\ncontribute to air pollution or contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d Brown helps\nshape the nation\u2019s energy policies as a board member of the Tennessee Valley\nAuthority (TVA) and chair of the company\u2019s Nuclear Oversight Committee.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBrown said that nuclear power plants are expensive to\nbuild, compared to natural gas facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBut they are clearly worth the investment,\u201d she said. \u201cA\nnuclear plant produces no carbon dioxide emissions and four times the power of a\ntypical natural gas facility. Fourteen billion is a big number, but the plants\nshould stay online for 50 to 70 years.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite the benefits, critics will always point to the\nrisk of a nuclear\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003Ecatastrophe. These\nare the nation\u2019s first approved nuclear facilities since Pennsylvania\u2019s Three\nMile Island accident in 1979. Experts contend that modern plant designs are\nmuch safer than those built previously.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe new plant designs are passively safe, so there are far\nfewer issues to worry about, like those that occurred with the older plants at\nFukushima with the loss of off-site power,\u201d said Glenn Sjoden, Georgia Tech professor\nof nuclear and radiological engineering. \u201cWith the new plants, you have a\nconvection cooling loop that uses gravity and runs by itself for days in the\nevent of lost power. There would be no active pumping required. . . . The more modern\ndesigns and precautions taken make nuclear the best option to satisfy our\nenergy needs.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince last year\u2019s incident, the Nuclear Regulatory\nCommission has been reviewing existing U.S. plants to ensure that they can\nwithstand earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters and making retrofit\nupgrades when necessary, Sjoden said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECritics point to nuclear waste as another challenge with\nnuclear power. Each of the nation\u2019s 104 plants store the radioactive waste on-site\nin steel casks protected by concrete and other safety systems. These are safe\ntoo, Brown said, because of careful construction and maintenance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENuclear waste would be a nonissue if the U.S. reprocessed\nits spent fuel like other nations such as France, Sjoden said.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLike most nations, they recycle their used fuel, since 95\npercent of the fuel can be recycled back into the reactor and used again, making\nnuclear power the most \u2018green\u2019 energy source out there,\u201d Sjoden said. \u201cBurying\nthe waste, as we do in the United States, is completely wasteful.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe United States generates almost 20 percent of its\nenergy from nuclear plants, the same amount as natural gas. Coal supplies 50\npercent. The remainder is generated from hydropower and other natural sources. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe must develop more renewables sources, such as wind,\nsolar and biopower,\u201d says Brown. \u201cIndustry leaders, business and the general\npublic must also become more energy efficient. That is the key to our future.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more on the anniversary of the Japan disaster, visit \u003Ca title=\u0022www.gatech.edu\/experts\/japan-anniversary\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/experts\/japan-anniversary\u0022\u003Ewww.gatech.edu\/experts\/japan-anniversary.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the first time since 1978, the National Regulatory Commission has approved two new plants. The $14 billion facilities will be built just outside Augusta and operated by Atlanta-based Southern Company.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Experts weigh in on the future of nuclear energy, following the one-year anniversary of the incident at Fukushima Daiichi."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2012-03-02 16:00:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:49","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"114661":{"id":"114661","type":"image","title":"Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant","body":null,"created":"1449178241","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:41","changed":"1475894733","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:33","alt":"Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant","file":{"fid":"194214","name":"southern_company_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/southern_company_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/southern_company_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2152034,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/southern_company_2_0.jpg?itok=93MKOORx"}}},"media_ids":["114661"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"25801","name":"Japan; anniversary; nuclear crisis"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}