Encourage Nuclear Energy Production and Research

As a nation, we need to focus on how to produce not only the most power possible for our citizens, but the most efficient ways to do so. Nuclear energy is the future of power production, it is clean energy, and it generates substantially more energy per pound of resource than fossil fuels, solar, or wind power. There are inherent dangers when working with nuclear energy, but these dangers are usually offset by safety features.

One uranium pellet has the potential to produce as much if not more energy than 1 ton of coal or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and this uranium pellet is around the same size as the average #2 pencil eraser (Nuclear Energy Institute. NEI.org. July 2015). A nuclear plant operating 24-hrs a day can produce close to 12,048 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity (U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA.gov. 2014). A lightbulb only takes 0.00006 MWh, which means around 200,800,000 could be powered from a single 24-hr run cycle of a nuclear reactor.

Depleted uranium can no longer be used effectively in a large scale reactor, which is why research into more efficient nuclear power reactors and systems are crucial. Once the uranium is depleted it could then be moved to a smaller scale reactor to finish out its radioactive process and become lead. This research could develop into smaller scale nuclear reactors, possibly unlocking the secret of personal nuclear reactors for households of neighborhoods. All of this energy could make the country not only energy dependent but an exporter of energy to neighboring countries.

Nuclear power production and research is crucial to the future of this nation and to the growth of our economy. It is clean energy, it is efficient energy production, and it will benefit the American people. We need nuclear power, and we need the nuclear power sector to grow.

I am not an expert in nuclear power, but from my own research, education, and experience I am creating this policy to bring awareness to our need for nuclear power production and research.

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I think Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are a great avenue to pursue. Large scale reactors require much larger initial capital investments, take longer to build, and a far more complex from a technological and design standpoint.

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