New Jersey The Real Deal - 1806 Words

Nuclear Energy as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels for New Jersey: The Real Deal ` The continuous use of fossil fuels is leading the Earth on a path to destruction. Generations of advancement and technological innovation being brought down to rubble. Natural disasters wreaking havoc on innocent people across the world. Temperatures soaring above 125℉ globally. These are the results of the excessive use of fossil fuels. A chief concern in the 21st century is global warming and climate change, and the continued use of fossil fuels for the technology and daily lives of humans is key to blame. Decades ago, these problems were much more daunting and seemingly unsolvable than they are today, with the use of alternative energy sources and new†¦show more content†¦According to nei.org, the Nuclear Energy Institute, â€Å"The average non-fuel OM cost for a nuclear power plant in 2014 was 1.64 cents per kWh†. The unit ‘cents per kWh’ is the standard unit for LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) which directly and completely compares a ll energy sources and their energy output in comparison to their costs (direct and indirect). This number (1.64c/kWh) is much lower in comparison to other energy sources’ operating costs of power plants, such as petroleum, which has an OM cost of 4 cents per kWh. This makes nuclear energy a very cost-efficient option for alternative energy, that will save money for other uses over time, such as for better nuclear energy research or for cutting consumer electricity costs. { Plus, the cost of uranium, which is currently the main fuel for nuclear reactors, is fairly low in comparison with other fuel options. The Nuclear Energy Institute also lists that, â€Å"The average fuel cost at a nuclear power plant in 2014 was 0.76 cents / kWh.† In contrast, the 2014 fuel costs for coal and gas were 2.53 and 4.01 cents/kWh respectively, making nuclear energy a very cheap alternative to fossil fuels. In addition, looking at Figure 1, it can be seen that fuel costs occupy much less o f the total production costs for nuclear energy than for fossil fuels. In fact, uranium itself occupies only about 15% of the