Headline Roundup • December 13th, 2021
Perspectives: Do the Environmental Benefits of Nuclear Power Outweigh the Risks?
Energy,Nuclear Energy,Clean Energy,California,Sustainability,Environment,Climate Change,Carbon Emissions
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Many energy experts seem to think California should save its last nuclear power plant instead of shutting it down, but one prominent group of journalists disagrees.
In a recent op-ed, the Los Angeles Times editorial board argues that the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant should be shut down due to risks of storing nuclear waste, environmental consequences of production and the need to focus on renewable energy. That opposes recent research from scientists at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which found that extending the plant's life would help California reach its goal of reducing carbon emissions and save the state billions of dollars. Nuclear power accounts for roughly 20% of U.S. electricity and 10% of electricity in California. It is considered a non-renewable source of energy, but unlike other non-renewable sources, production of nuclear power doesn't emit greenhouse cases. Diablo Canyon is scheduled to close down by 2025, but the Biden administration recently hinted at revisiting that with the state.
Other left-rated editorial boards, such as the Washington Post's (Lean Left), disagree with the L.A. Times's board and argue that the plant should stay open. One article from Fox News highlighted over a dozen pundits and energy experts who took to Twitter to criticized the L.A. Times op-ed. Some voices from the right argued that progressive Democrats dislike nuclear power "because it's a road to sustainability that doesn't run through dismantling capitalism."
Featured Coverage of this Story
(Michael A. Mariant / Associated Press)
California is approaching an energy crossroads. In three years, its last nuclear plant will begin to power down and the state will lose its largest single source of emissions-free electricity.
A 2018 law requires state regulators to “avoid any increase in greenhouse gases” as a result of closing the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant on the Central Coast. But if they don’t move more quickly to replace its electricity with renewable energy from wind, solar and geothermal, the void will almost certainly be filled by burning more natural gas, which increased...
San Luis Obispo Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Scientists from the MIT and Stanford have published a proposal to retrofit California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which is currently scheduled to be decommissioned and closed in August 2025.
The plan would save up to $21 billion in power grid costs if Diablo Canyon were kept open until 2050.
In addition, keeping the plant open to 2050 would preserve 90,000 acres of land that would otherwise need to go to be covered in photovoltaic solar panels to meet California’s climate goals. The scientists also propose that Diablo Canyon could...
Fox News Digital
Critics flamed the Los Angeles Times editorial board over the weekend for arguing that California's last remaining nuclear power plant needed to be closed in the name of doing even more to fight climate change.
In a Sunday editorial, the board criticized those advocating for the plant to remain open despite the plant operator's 2018 decision to shut down, and implored California's state government to get other renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, in place to prevent an increase in the use of natural gas following the plant's closure.
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