Energy Makes Things Happen
Fact: Nearly everything we do in modern society is made possible by energy. Without electricity, we'd have no computers or TVs, no air conditioning or even refrigerators. Transportation fuels help us drive around town or travel to other parts of the world.
Fact: Various forms of energy power our schools, businesses, hospitals, and factories. One of our Nation's most important sources of energy is nuclear power, which gives us approximately 20 percent of the electricity we use.
Electricity, the Most Recognizable Energy
Fact: The flow of electrons known as electricity is produced by converting a primary source of energy-fossil fuel (coal, oil, or natural gas), uranium, water, wind, solar, biomass, or thermal-into electricity. Power plants generate electricity by heating water to produce steam, which then passes over and turns turbine blades. As the blades turn, the motion they produce drives a shaft that turns a generator.
Fact: The generator is made up of a giant coil of wire that spins inside a cylindrical magnet. The spinning motion and the magnet cause electrons to flow through the coil. Electricity is simply this flow of electrons.
Fact: Power plants and the complex system of wires, known as the “grid,” that transmit the electricity to homes, schools, and other users are owned by electric power companies. To avoid wasteful duplication of power plants and transmission lines in an area, public utilities commissions assign specific service areas to power companies so that no more than one company serves an area. The commission also sets how much a utility can charge for its services and how much profit it can make.
Fact: Because an electric utility supplies essential services to the public, it must plan carefully so that it can produce enough electricity to meet demand. The decisions a company makes today must anticipate public needs for electricity in the future. These decisions are difficult because it can take as long as 10 years to get approvals and construct a fossil fuel-fired plant; a nuclear power plant can take up to 14 years to complete because it is more complex and requires more permits.
The Growing Need for Energy
Fact: In 2007, the United States consumed 101.6 quadrillion Btu of energy, more than twice as much as it used in 1960. By 2030, the U.S. will use 118 quadrillion Btu of energy, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Fact: The United States uses nearly a million dollars worth of energy each minute, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Fact: Because we are such a highly developed and industrialized society, the United States is the world's largest energy consumer. Other top consumers are China, Russia, Japan, Germany, India, and France.
Fact: Total U.S. electricity consumption is expected to increase 1.1 percent annually - or about 26 percent in total - between now and 2030, according to EIA. Nuclear generating capacity will grow a total of about 15 percent over the same period to help meet the need for more electricity.
How Nuclear Fits
Fact: Nuclear plants used a certain kind of uranium, U-235, as fuel, because its atoms are easily split apart. While uranium is 100 times more common than silver, U-235 is rare. Most U.S. uranium used for nuclear fuel is mined in the western states.
Fact: Uranium fuel is formed into ceramic pellets about the size of your fingertip. Though small, each pellet produces the same amount of energy as 150 gallons of oil.
Fact: Nuclear energy currently accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. electricity generation. It has been a reliable, economic, safe and environmentally clean source of electrical energy for the United States for more than 40 years.
Fact: Nuclear energy is the largest producer of electric power without emitting any significant pollution or greenhouse gases. It produces a full 70 percent of the electricity generated from “clean” energy sources-considerably more than wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower combined.
To learn more.
World Nuclear Association
Energy Information Administration
