NEI Nuclear Notes

Kimberly Cate The following post was written by Kimberly Cate, NEI's Communications Intern. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is set to roll out a carbon-reduction regulation tomorrow, a move that may have major ramifications in how states manage energy policy and develop the electricity grid of the future. This new regulation will likely prompt companies to shift to nuclear energy, renewables, hydropower and other lower-carbon emitting energy sources, as the new regulation will impose yet more strict regulations on carbon emissions. As the only large-scale electricity producer , “…[P]olicy makers should not be spooked into shutting down [nuclear energy as] a vital source of clean energy in a warming world,” the New York Times points out in an editorial . Last year, nuclear energy accounted for more than 60 percent of America’s carbon-free sources of electricity , with hydropower accounting for around 20 percent; wind an estimated 13 percent; and geothermal an...