Nuclear power is our future

By Kristen Ferries, Commentary

Published 5:53 pm, Thursday, May 22, 2014

With the intention of protecting the people of New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has embarked
on a crusade against nuclear power that will endanger his constituents and cost them on their
energy bill and at the doctor's office.
Nuclear power is a clean energy source that produces electricity without emitting any of the
pollutants associated with fossil fuels, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and
methane, deadly particulates, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide. Reductions in these pollutants
would alleviate global warming, mitigate environmental hazards like acid rain, and tackle the
thousands of deaths a year caused by the combustion of fossil fuels.
Nuclear power is essentially renewable, since the uranium-based fuel used is virtually
inexhaustible. Furthermore, although nuclear plants consume more water than fossil fuel
plants, they require far less than other renewable options like hydropower, geothermal,
and solar.
Moreover, nuclear power is only responsible for five percent of hazardous waste in this country,
while it contributes nearly 20 percent of our energy, and new designs for nuclear plants could
eliminate the issue entirely.
When inadequate safety precautions combine with a severe natural disaster, like they did in the
2011 Fukushima disaster, the risks of nuclear power become evident.
Although the radiation exposure from nuclear plants can be dangerous, these risks must be
placed in context. NASA concluded that nuclear power avoided an average of 76,000 deaths and
64 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year between 2000 and 2009 by reducing fossil fuel
consumption. According to the National Academy of Sciences, the burning of fossil fuels
leads to $120 billion in health costs and 20,000 premature deaths caused by air pollution
each year.
In spite of all this evidence, Cuomo hopes to close Westchester's Indian Point Plant when its
licenses expire in 2015. Although the federal government has the sole authority to regulate the
safety of nuclear power plants, state administrations have the power to prevent the construction
of new reactors and can propose referendums that force plants to close. Cuomo could also deny
Entergy, the owner of Indian Point, the water it takes (and returns) to the Hudson River by
rejecting its water permit.
Cuomo's misguided attempt to rid New York City of what he inaccurately views as a dangerous
source of power will have immediate, perilous consequences. Blackouts will put the health and

safety of millions of New Yorkers at risk, but the costs don't end there. A nuclear phase-out will
increase our reliance on fossil fuels and drastically reduce our air quality. NASA predicts that
this decrease in air quality will cause thousands perhaps millions of additional air-qualityrelated deaths.
In addition, research and development within the nuclear industry has produced results that, if
implemented, could make nuclear an even safer, greener source of power, with less hazardous
waste. If the states make it impossible for nuclear plants to survive, however, investment
will sputter.
Rather than encouraging Indian Point to explore these new technologies and retrofit their
outdated equipment perhaps using the subsidy budget currently being doled out to less
realistic enterprises like fuel cells and water-intensive, high cost solar energy Cuomo is
attempting to shut them out entirely.
Even the liberal New York Times editorial page recently endorsed the benefits of nuclear power
over renewables in a world where the latter are still a pipe dream.
It's time for Cuomo to take facts seriously and work to help nuclear power improve our
environment and our health rather than advocating for impractical renewables while fossil
fuels destroy them both.
Kristen Ferries is a 2014 graduate of the University of Rochester, where she majored in
financial economics and environmental sustainability. She will be attending Cornell Law
School in the fall.