Environmental Impact of Retiring Nuclear Power Plants

Retiring nuclear power plants could accelerate climate change, according to a report commissioned by Nuclear Matters in response to the impending shutdown of 4 plants in PA and OH.  The reason is that the four nuclear plants in question generate more clean energy than all the wind and solar sources in the PJM Interconnection’s 13-state footprint combined.

How Retiring Nuclear Power Plants Bolsters Global Warming

Of course, retiring nuclear power plants presents a host of problems, from economic distress caused by plant layoffs, to the time and effort needed to replace the lost generation capacity, to the long-term risks inherent in containing and storing radioactive materials.

But when it comes to the question of how nuclear plant shutdowns impact climate change, the simple answer is that nukes – unlike coal, gas and oil power plants – do not release carbon dioxide into the environment.  So, taking them offline decreases the amount of CO-free energy available.  While renewable energy sources like wind and solar are also devoid of carbon dioxide pollutants, there simply is not enough of these renewable sources to compensate for the loss of nuclear energy sources.

According to the report, it would take 16 years of adding renewable energy sources at twice the historical rate to recoup the clean energy lost from the nuclear power plant retirements.  Unfortunately, thanks to relatively cheap prices and the supply boost from fracking, the nuke shutdowns are likely to be replaced with gas-fired plants, which emit fewer pollutants than oil-fired plants, but more than nuclear plants.

The net effect of all of this is that climate change will likely accelerate, at least in the short-term, which will increase the risk of severe weather and outages.  So, the final question we need to ask is, should regulators put the kibosh on retiring nuclear power plants?  Unfortunately, it is a question with no right answer.