ABSTRACT
First, it is free from some of the serious air pollution problems that can accompany coal-fired and, to a lesser extent, natural gas-fired electricity generation. This includes both conventional pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides-and mercury, cadmium, and other heavy metals present in coal. While emissions of all these pollutants have been reduced significantly since the 1970 Clean Air Act took effect, electricity generation is still a major source of them all. Much more importantly, nuclear power is carbon-free. That is, unlike coal, natural gas, and petroleum, it does not release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the process of generating electricity. At a time when there is growing concern about the link between carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases on the one hand and the warming of our planet on the other, this advantage of nuclear power has begun to loom larger.
