Many critics of nuclear energy are banking on the promise of continuing research on how to make renewable energy more reliable, even as they acknowledge the challenges. She also works for UC Berkeley and the Environmental Defense Fund. “Taking anything off the table, especially something that can produce massive amounts of megawatts very reliably in a very small footprint, is really going to make it harder,” said Long, chairwoman of the study. Natural gas, though cleaner than coal, won’t balance out the equation. The measure also calls for an additional 80 percent reduction by 2050.īy then, electricity use in California will likely have doubled, even with major advances in energy efficiency, as many more vehicles go electric to reduce carbon emissions, according to a 2011 study commissioned by the California Council on Science and Technology.Īmong the authors, energy expert Jane Long said nobody yet knows how much of future electricity demand can be met by wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. Arnold Schwarzenegger that aims to wind back the clock on greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Meanwhile, playing in the nuclear industry’s favor is a 2005 executive order signed by Gov. Southern California Edison, the facility’s operator, is looking for ways to satisfy safety regulators and restart its reactors. The shutdown that began in January, prompted by the rapid degradation of steam generator tubes that help prevent releases of radiation, still has no clear outcome.
In the short term, the role of nuclear energy has taken an uncertain turn with the continued outage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Pressure test failures at San Onofre confined to one generator Nuclear regulators detail generator damage that sidelined reactors
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