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Planet Forward - Make Your Case

Planet ForwardNEI's VP, Angie Howard, has made her case: submitting a video to PBS's Planet Forward show. Scheduled to air on April 15th, the primetime special will feature viewer-submitted video clips that address the feasibility of moving away from fossil fuels, domestically and globally.

Visitors can rate and comment on Angie's clip, Teaming Nuclear and Renewable Energies, on the Planet Forward website. (Vote now - and often. The highest-rated submissions are more likely to be selected for the show.) The video can also be seen on NEI's YouTube channel here.




Comments

gunter said…
"teaming" nuclear with renewables.
This is really NEI's April Fools joke, right?

While nuclear power was sold as "too cheap to meter" during its rise till its fall it consumed more federal R&D of any energy source... no that its burned out private investment in fact its remains "too expensive to share."
Jason Ribeiro said…
It's too bad the sound quality of this video is rather poor.

Overall I think it's a good strategy and message to market nuclear as a team player in the clean energy mix. Personally though, I think nuclear makes solar and wind energy more or less irrelevant.

This is a political struggle as much as a scientific and economic one. Showing the nuclear industry wants to play nice is key to gaining more trust. And given the latest poll results, I think people are getting the message.
Jason Ribeiro said…
Mr. Gunter - Latching onto a quote that is over 50 years old to intentionally misconstrue the facts about nuclear energy is an old routine of the anti-nuclear clan. The fact is that solar and wind energy are some of the most expensive per unit forms of energy. Nuclear has some of the lowest costs per unit of energy produced.

The quote was "It is not too much to expect that our children will enjoy electrical energy in their homes too cheap to meter." said in 1954 by then Admiral Lewis L. Strauss, Chairman of the AEC. He was referencing the concept of fusion, not fission energy. Moreover, this was not a promise, it was that man's imagination of passing a better world to future generations. I think that is a notion we all share. Is it not a green vision to imagine energy supplies that belong to everyone and are affordable? Is that not the meaning behind the word when you say "share"?

I remember when Al Gore was misquoted as "invented the internet" and he was relentlessly raked over for it. Of course Al was explaining that he supported legislation for the R&D group which developed the internet. I always defended Al Gore when I heard someone mention that misquote. When you misquote Admiral Strauss, you are using the same type of tactics that were used against Al Gore.
gunter said…
I know the quote well... dating it is irrelevant given nuclear power is only more expensive than ever today. The point being nuclear power is not a "team player" as it is so much more capital intensive now that it is will suck up the lion's share of R&D as it did from 1948 to 1991 as documented by Congressional Research Service reports.
Jason Ribeiro said…
If you know the quote well, then why do you continue to misconstrue it for your own self serving agenda?

Mr. Gunter, expensive is a relative term. The gov't spent about 2.5x the amount of money recently on renewable energy, conservation, geothermal, wind, solar, etc. - collectively compared to nuclear R&D. Has it occurred to you that no matter how much money is put into solar or wind R&D that only a small amount of benefit will become of it due to the intermittent nature of the wind and sun? Has it occurred to you that wind energy has the highest consumption of steel and concrete per unit of energy and thus is more "expensive" than nuclear, especially when you consider wind's extremely low capacity factor (a term almost totally absent from the mind of most wind enthusiasts)?
J Wheeler said…
The repeated rendition of the “too cheap to meter” mantra by anti-nukes is like children teasing in the schoolyard, “Na-Na-Na, I told you so…..” Is there anything new to add to the discussion? It’s getting a bit stale!

Today nuclear electricity is generated for about 1.7 cents per kW-Hr. Based on the consumer price index, the present day cost of nuclear electricity in 1954 dollars is about 0.21 cents ($0.0021) per kW-Hr. That is about one-half of what it cost in 1954 to generate electricity (primarily by coal). Nuclear energy has done pretty well for electricity rate payers; essentially cutting the cost of electricity in half while reducing air pollution, acid rain, and GHG emissions.

Over that same 60 year period nuclear energy essentially eliminated petroleum use as an energy source for electricity generation and put a huge dent in the coal-producers pocket book. Many of the same anti-nukes who sing the “expensive nuclear” mantra are on the payroll of the coal, gas and oil industries. Call me suspicious, but I hardly think that’s a coincidence.

Today the market price for electricity in the NY ISO was around 38 cents per kW-Hr. With a production cost of 1.7 cents per kW-Hr, nuclear power plants contribute to lower rates, and help meet regional greenhouse gas emission goals, all while providing a nice return on investment.
Anonymous said…
Mr. Gunter,

When the quote you so love to take out of context was first said my mother was 4 years old. I had never heard of it before until I read one of your parrotted comments. Therefore, please excuse me when I say I place little to no relevance in it.

I won't bother refuting your claims of nuclear energy's "great expense", as this blog and the previous commenters do a good job of that already.

-Sarah
Anonymous said…
I'm beginning to feel that any talk of "future energy' is a moot point. I think if we get 3degrees C , we will have passed the point of no return, if we haven't already. Global warming is not entirely human driven, but a natural progression, that has happened many times before. We are destined for extinction like any other animal. Because we have 'self awareness' does' not exclude us from the performance of nature!!

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