So, just how clean and sustainable is nuclear Try these quick facts for starters.

Nuclear energy protects air quality.

It generates power through fission, which is the process of splitting uranium atoms to produce energy.

The heat released by fission is used to create steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity without the harmful byproducts emitted by fossil fuels.

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the United States avoided more than 476 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2019.

It also keeps the air clean by removing thousands of tons of harmful air pollutants each year that contribute to acid rain, smog, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Nuclear energys land footprint is small.

A typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear facility in the United States needs a little more than 1 square mile to operate.

NEI says wind farms require 360 times more land area to produce the same amount of electricity and solar photovoltaic plants require 75 times more space.

To put that in perspective, you would need more than 3 million solar panels to produce the same amount of power as a typical commercial reactor or more than 430 wind turbines (capacity factor not included).

See more comparisons here.

Nuclear energy produces minimal waste.

All of the used nuclear fuel produced by the U.S.

That waste can also be reprocessed and recycled, although the United States does not currently do this.

However, some advanced reactors designs being developed could operate on used fuel.

The NICE Future Initiative is a global effort under the Clean Energy Ministerial that makes sure nuclear will be considered in developing the advanced clean energy systems of the future.

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