For the past two decades, American energy policies have been nothing short of political weaponry at the expense of the consumer.
We have witnessed the transformation of the United States from a net energy importer under the Obama administration to an energy-independent nation under former President Donald Trump and back to nearly complete energy dependence under the Biden administration through this president’s restrictive renewable energy efforts.
Today, the U.S. government is funneling trillions of taxpayer dollars to force renewable energy and electric vehicles into our national economy. Businesses are subsidized to manufacture renewable products, and consumers are subsidized to purchase them. Despite these subsidies, little has been done for the environment. The only real outcome has been increased energy costs, reduced marketplace competition, decreased American innovation, and increased dependence on foreign nations.
Our adversaries dabble in renewable energies, but their efforts do not restrict their use of traditional forms of energy such as coal and oil or their economies. As per data released by the Global Energy Monitor, China was responsible for 96% of global coal-fired power plant construction in 2023. America is falling behind, while our adversaries are plowing ahead in energy production. Our allies possess capabilities to recycle and reuse nuclear fuel, while the U.S. has yet to secure those capabilities.
When all of this is considered, along with the fact that our energy industry faces outdated federal regulations and restricted access to fossil fuels and other critical minerals, it becomes clear that the future of our nation’s ability to produce energy is on the brink of disaster.
All is not lost. However, we must act quickly through the establishment of a comprehensive and unified framework that addresses these challenges through a consumer-focused lens of energy sustainability and security.
The one energy source that is proven to accomplish this is nuclear power.
Since the 1940s, nuclear energy has been a pillar of our nation’s critical infrastructure and has strengthened our national security. The ability of nuclear power producers to send a reliable, uninterrupted source of energy to our national grid is unique to nuclear power and key to our everyday lives. Reliable power allows our economy to flow seamlessly and our state and federal governments to function as designed.
In our nation, 93 nuclear reactors generate 20% of U.S. electricity, all of which produce zero carbon emissions. In addition to producing carbon-free energy, these reactors can withstand extreme environmental conditions and sustain the nation’s electrical grid 24 hours per day.
Nuclear power is the cleanest form of energy that we have because it is powered by uranium, which produces zero emissions. Other forms of energy, on the other hand, including coal, gas, solar, and wind, require thousands of gallons of fossil fuels. In fact, a single wind turbine blade contains more plastic than 5 million iPhones.
Nuclear power also provides a much smaller footprint on our national landscape, since a 1,100 megawatt nuclear plant only requires around 1 square mile of land. A solar panel farm requires the same amount of land to produce a single megawatt, and the average wind turbine only produces 2-3 megawatts.
Nuclear energy also produces minimal waste and is disposed of safely in adherence to strict guidelines from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, when the spent nuclear fuel from U.S. reactors completes its current “operating life,” the uranium still holds 90% of its potential energy, even after five years of operation in a reactor. While the U.S. does not recycle spent nuclear fuel, foreign countries, such as France, do. This alone offers a multibillion-dollar marketplace in the U.S. while lowering our dependency on foreign uranium sources.
Nuclear is also much more efficient than all other forms of energy. On average, a loaded nuclear reactor contains 7 million uranium pellets. One uranium pellet creates as much energy as 1 ton of coal, 149 gallons of oil, or 17,000 cubic feet of liquid natural gas. In short, a fully loaded nuclear reactor creates as much energy as 7 million tons of coal, 1 billion gallons of oil, or 1.19 billion cubic feet of liquid natural gas.
The federal government has been far more consumed with reducing our carbon footprint and renewable energy than securing our nation’s energy sector for future generations. Nuclear power has brought this country through many industrial revolutions, and it is still the future. Policymakers should set aside green initiatives and look to nuclear so that the U.S. can start dominating the energy sector once again.
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JR Majewski is a veteran, nuclear energy expert, and GOP congressional candidate for Ohio’s 9th District. He serves as an executive in the nuclear industry, specializing in the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and working with some of the world’s largest nuclear utilities.
