In a guest column on The Hill‘s Congress Blog, AREVA Inc North America CEO Mike Rencheck is making the case for nuclear power as a viable addition to the President’s call for executive branch agencies to obtain 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020—because nuclear energy’s low emissions (compared to fossil fuels and biofuels) are better not only for the environment, but also for public health.
Rencheck highlights several studies outlining the public health benefits of nuclear energy, but perhaps none is more powerful than the one from NASA scientists James Hansen and Pushker Kharecha, finding that nuclear power globally has prevented an average of 1.8 million air-pollution-related deaths that would have otherwise occurred if nuclear energy had been replaced with fossil fuels—a number that could grow to 7 million lives saved over the next 40 years.
He also writes about how the nuclear energy industry is constantly building, renewing, and improving America’s nuclear reactor fleet, continually preparing to meet the challenge of America’s energy future:
Leading U.S. nuclear energy technology providers, like AREVA, play an ongoing role in this daily nuclear energy renewal, deploying its highly skilled workforce and delivering technology innovations to keep nuclear facilities running across the country. For example, after installing the first digital instrumentation and control system at a U.S. nuclear energy facility in 2011, AREVA successfully completed the installation of a third system in December. This state-of-the-art technology helps modernize equipment in the current nuclear fleet, and improves plant safety, reliability, capability and longevity.
Please take a look at Rencheck’s column, and share it with your social networks.
(While you’re at it, make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates!)
