Santa Maria Sun / Commentary

Support nuclear power

BY JUSTIN RUHGE

Those who oppose the use of nuclear power and think that solar, wind, and others will be substitutes do not understand that the real issue is in the numbers. Those nuclear power plants turn out two to three billion watt-hours of power every hour of every day, night and day! That is enough for two million homes! California’s power needs peaked at 50 billion watt-hours last summer, the highest in the country. Our power requirements are growing at about .5 billion-watt hours per year.

Our recommended solution to our power needs is nuclear plants to power electric homes, cars and trucks, and nuclear-powered sea travel.

The alternative renewable power sources are good for about 300 to 400 million watt-hours, but only when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. That is good for about 12,000 homes. While renewable power sounds good, it is in itself not sufficient to meet the present or growing needs of the California population! Renewable sources can reduce the amount of fuel that is used by the present big power producers, but they are no substitute for the 24-hour-a-day plants we need to meet our daily requirements in the state with the largest population, and  using the largest amount of energy in the union. Renewable power is just too puny to provide our main power needs.

Twenty-five nuclear power plants would provide all the power needs of California for the foreseeable future.

The accusations of extremist groups like the Nuclear Peace Foundation and the Mothers Against Nuclear, etc. are hysterical and without any basis in fact.

For 50 years now, nuclear power has proven to be the safest source of energy for both peaceful and military uses. No one has died from nuclear power plants. New reactor designs are even more reliable.

The U.S. and Russian navies have used nuclear power for their ships for decades without any problems. The United States’ latest super aircraft carrier, the President Ronald Reagan, powered by nuclear reactors, can sail for 20 years without refueling.

If we listened to these hysterical extremists’ concerns over safety, we would never get into a car, an airplane, a train, or certainly not a cruise ship. Every one of these systems has had problems in the past, but we still use them. Nuclear is no different. It has a record of being reliable and safe; that is why we should continue to use this great power source as our prime source.

Nuclear does not pollute the atmosphere while providing our maximum power needs and using a minimum of land for power generation.

Nuclear plants cover about 16 to 30 acres to generate the billions of watts of power, while renewable sources must cover thousands of acres to equal one nuclear plant in power generation. The environment is impacted by these extensive renewable power plants.

The source of nuclear power, uranium, is almost limitless. The United States controls the nuclear fuel sources, not the Arabs. We have unlimited nuclear fuel sources in the continental United States if the politicians will let them be developed. And, by recycling spent fuels, the yield on uranium is increased to 75 percent from 5 percent and therefore, the waste is greatly eliminated and source greatly increased.

The government has got to overcome being afraid of the process. The chance that terrorists are going to steal the plutonium is negligible even if they knew what to do with it. It requires extensive facilities and technology know-how to make it into anything dangerous. A small possibility, if any.

With nuclear, the United States can free itself from any and all foreign threats to our energy requirements.

The refining of uranium may take some energy, but so does building thousands of 400-foot-tall wind generators and thousands of solar panels.

For the investment, more power comes from nuclear.

Today, nuclear waste products from commercial and military uses are stored in depots or at the power plants. With the approval of the Yucca Mountain storage facilities by the federal government, there is no reason why California should not go full speed ahead with new and expanded nuclear power plants.

Those groups that are fighting nuclear fuel developments are really working for foreign interests, not for the United States. They are the very people who are opposing safe waste storage and delaying full implementation of nuclear energy. Their hypocrisy is obvious.

Government subsidies are spent on renewables, as well as nuclear. But nuclear should be the major source of power with the smaller renewables as supplements.

Our recommended solution to our power needs is nuclear plants to power electric homes, cars and trucks, and nuclear-powered sea travel.

With nuclear, fossil fuels can be phased out for power generation but we will still need oil and gas to produce all those plastics, road asphalts and air travel that we have become accustomed to.

With nuclear, air pollution can be reduced and the amount of nuclear power can be slightly reduced by the use of renewable wind and sun generated power when they are available.

Justin Ruhge is a Lompoc resident. Send comments to Executive Editor Ryan Miller at rmiller@santamariasun.com.