NUCLEAR FACTS Business
of nuclear Benefits of Nuclear
Energy: Impact on Utility Fuel Use
(July 2000)
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Between 1973 and 1999, nuclear energy met 40
percent of the increase in demand for electricity in the United
States. Over this same period, U.S. nuclear power plants displaced
(avoided the need to burn) a total of 2.4 billion barrels of oil,
4.1 billion tons of coal, and 15.6 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas. The oil alone would have cost $81 billion (in constant 1999
dollars). |
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Worldwide, nuclear energy displaced 11.3 billion
barrels of oil between 1973 and 1997, valued at over $290 billion.
During the same period, nuclear energy displaced 10.3 billion tons
of coal and 67.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. |
Nuclear Energy’s Impact on U.S. Electric Utility Fuel Use The methodology for determining the type and amount of
fuel displaced by nuclear energy is based on a model that uses annual
generating data from 1973 to the present, by state for the United
States and by country for the world. The model assumes that no nuclear
power plants were built, and that all electricity was supplied by
other types of generating plants that would have been the most
appropriate replacements for nuclear power plants.
Coal. Using nuclear energy saved the United
States a total of 4.1 billion tons of coal between 1973 and 1999. In
1999, nuclear energy displaced 265 million tons of domestic coal.
Oil. Between 1973 and 1999, oil's share of U.S.
electricity generation dropped from 17 percent to 3 percent, while
nuclear's share rose from 4 percent to about 20 percent. By
eliminating the need for 2.4 billion barrels of oil over this period,
nuclear energy saved the United States $81 billion in foreign oil
purchases (in constant 1999 dollars). In 1999, nuclear energy
displaced 66.3 million barrels of oil, helping utilities avoid $1
billion in oil purchases.
Natural Gas. Nuclear energy displaced 15.6
trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the United States between 1973
and 1999. In 1999, nuclear energy saved 1.5 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas.
Impact on Worldwide Utility Fuel Use
In the absence of nuclear energy, the use of oil to
generate electricity would have been greatest in East Asia and some
Western European countries. Natural gas would have been the primary
fuel in much of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Coal would
have been the major fuel used in most other parts of the world.
Since the 1973 oil embargo, many countries have used
nuclear energy to reduce their dependence on oil. Countries like
Sweden, France and Japan have been successful in this respect. Between
1973 and 1997, nuclear energy displaced 11.3 billion barrels of oil
worldwide. And in 1997 alone, nuclear energy displaced 580 million
barrels of oil, 710 million tons of coal and 6.3 trillion cubic feet
of gas worldwide. Back
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