Biden Right To Emphasize Nuclear Power Can Play Key Role In Tackling Climate Emergency
THE climate emergency is an existential threat to humanity one that demands an all-of-the-above approach to reducing deadly emissions. Thankfully, President Joe Biden has shown he shares this view by distancing himself from environmentalists who disdain nuclear power because of its waste disposal issues, meltdown fears and links to militarism even though it is a huge source of the world’s clean energy and a potentially much bigger one.
This was one most concrete display in the White House’s success in getting 6 billion included in a massive infrastructure bill to help prop up aging, financially stressed nuclear plants that could soon close en masse across the US. This could lead to a sharp decline in emission-free nuclear plants’ present contribution of nearly 20 percent of US electricity generation. It may be too late to stop the planned 2025 closure of California’s lone remaining nuclear plant Diablo Canyon but a majority of other states are receptive to Biden’s initiative.
Crucially, the Biden administration’s recognition of nuclear power’s potential role in cleaning up the atmosphere includes a practical understanding of the nuclear waste issue. In a visit last week to the San Onofre nuclear plant north of Carlsbad (which is shuttered and should not reopen), Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the federal government was prepared to pay local governments to set up repositories for the nuclear waste generated at commercial U.S. plants for more than 60 years.
An even better plan would be for the federal government to resume its promising effort to set up a huge repository at remote ucca Mountain, Nevada. It should also help fund the research that scientists in France and at UC Irvine think could sharply reduce the lifespan of radioactive waste.
For all its downsides, nuclear power has a record of producing clean electricity on a massive scale. Biden’s recognition of this fact is a crucial display of leadership on an important and divisive issue.