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Without New Uranium Mines, U.S. Runs Risk Of European-Style Reliance On Russian Energy Michael Shellenberger April. 2022 “The power from San Onofre and the Rancho Seco nuclear generating station near Sacramento, both now shuttered, added to that from the never-built Sundesert nuclear plant in the Mojave Desert and three planned-but-not-built units at Diablo Canyon on the state’s central coast, would add a total of 77,000 gigawatt-hours of zero-carbon power to California’s supply. “Only 27 percent of the power produced in California would come from fossil sources, other things remaining equal, as opposed to 66 percent today. And carbon emissions from power generation would be only 40 percent of what they are today.” And, as I told the United States Senate a few weeks ago, adding weather-dependent solar and wind to electrical grids diverted money away from reliable energy sources, namely nuclear and natural gas plants, which could have prevented the deadly and costly blackouts in California and Texas. If America truly embraces the long-term path of a sustainably fossil-free future, however, it has to go nuclear. Doing so without a re-assessment of the nation’s uranium suppliers could make the United States just as dependent on Russian fuel as Europe is today. Nuclear power from 93 reactors currently generates 20 percent of the U.S. electric grid and is the source of 55 percent of carbon-free energy, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). While the 2022 annual outlook from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) keeps the share of nuclear-generated electricity on the power grid consistent over the next 30 years.
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