In order to achieve the many benefits of nuclear power, Connecticut’s government and energy officials need to commit to safe and secure construction of facilities and the proper disposal of nuclear waste, according to a study from the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.
CASE will brief the Connecticut Energy Advisory Board on Friday at the State Capitol in Hartford on its findings from the study entitled Advances in Nuclear Power.
Nuclear power has been the primary source of emission-free electricity in Connecticut since 1970. The Millstone Power Station in Waterford, with the state’s last two remaining nuclear power reactors, provides roughly half of all electricity generated in Connecticut, and it is the largest power plant in New England.
The CASE study found several benefits to pursuing nuclear power for Connecticut’s future: lower-cost baseload generation; emission free electricity generation; fuel diversity to reduce the New England region’s reliance on natural gas and fossil fuels; and the creation of new jobs by expanding the highly trained workforce required to safely operate nuclear power plant units.
In order to obtain these benefits, the nuclear industry must successfully demonstrate that nuclear plants can be constructed on budget and on schedule; and that new and current plants operate at a high level of safety and security. Connecticut government officials need to demand that the federal government properly dispose of all the nuclear waste temporarily stored in the state, since the U.S. Department of Energy is 13 years behind its deadline to pick up the spent uranium and dispose of it in an appropriate facility.
