Peter Lobner
On 2 July 2015, I made a long post entitled, “EPA Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule Does Not Adequately Recognize the Role of Nuclear Power in Greenhouse Gas Reduction.”
On 7 July 2015, Nuclear Matters (http://www.nuclearmatters.com) issued a related, comprehensive report, prepared by economists from The Brattle Group (http://www.brattle.com), that quantifies the significant value of nuclear power plants to the U.S. economy and the contribution made to limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Their report’s findings include:
- U.S. nuclear energy plants contribute $60 billion annually to gross domestic product (GDP), in addition to other economic and societal benefits.
- The nuclear industry accounts for about 475,000 full-time jobs (direct and secondary).
- Energy generated from nuclear plants avoids emissions that otherwise would have been generated by fossil power plants.
- 573 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, worth an additional $25 billion annually if valued at the U.S. government’s estimate for the social cost of carbon.
- 650,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and over one million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions annually, together valued at $8.4 billion using the National Academy of Science’s externality estimates.
- Nuclear power helps keep electricity prices low. Without nuclear power, retail electricity rates could increase by about 6% on average. Keeping electricity prices low is the primary means by which nuclear power boosts the economy.
- Provides $10 billion in federal tax revenues and $2.2 billion in state tax revenues annually.
You can download the report, entitled, “The Nuclear Industry’s Contribution to the U.S. Economy” at the link below. The report also describes the modeling techniques used to estimate economic value with and without the contributions from nuclear power.
