• High cost
• Low efficiency
• Expensive to maintain
• Prone to breakdowns
• Big environmental footprint

The Nuclear Model

Prone to breakdown
About 67% of the energy in the fuel used by a nuclear plant is simply wasted.  That’s about the same level of efficiency as our coal generating stations, which are based on 19th-century technology.   By comparison, a natural gas- or biomass-fired combined heat and power plant can capture more than 80% of the energy in the fuel it uses. 

And because nuclear plants need to be located well away from big cities, where most of their electricity is actually used, they can also lose more of the electricity they do produce to transmission line inefficiences.

Next >

About 67% of the energy in the fuel used by a nuclear plant is simply wasted.