Environment
Nuclear energy is clean energy.
Pennsylvania’s four nuclear power plants produce 92 percent of the Commonwealth’s carbon-free electricity.1 It is the only ‘clean-air’ energy source that can produce large amounts of electricity around the clock.
- Pennsylvania’s nuclear energy facilities help avoid 35 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of taking 8 million passenger cars off the road.
- Studies indicate nuclear energy’s life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions are comparable to renewables, like wind and hydro-power.
- Nuclear energy isn’t just eliminating carbon dioxide emissions – it helps avoid the emission of hundreds of thousands of short tons of air pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide nationwide each year.
- The combined social cost of the emissions saved in 2023 was valued at more than $27 billion.