In 2018 the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) made a proclamation heard around the world: nuclear energy is a source of clean energy alongside solar and wind renewables. As a collective organization made up of twenty-six different nations and sponsored by the European Union as a whole, their pronouncements on clean energy carry a global weight. Though a dense litany of scientists and energy experts from every conceivable corner of the planet have long belabored this point, to hear nuclear energy is clean from a world-wide organization devoted solely to clean energy is nothing short of a miracle given the politicized lightening rod the very word nuclear has become.
While being perpetually submerged in the milieu of propaganda hysteria which has no real factual basis in a world supposedly governed by logic, nuclear energy has been making headway since the lambasting PR campaigns of the late ’60s and ’70s surrounding Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island—the latter of which produced not a single death and less radiation than a standard x-ray scan. Yet strides have been made in recent years with the wave of clean energy obsession rising to the surface of our national consciousness—in fact, joining with the CEM, MIT in a dual partnership with Idaho National Laboratories (a sprawling research facility dedicated to nuclear development), released a joint statement emphatically laying out that “nuclear energy is “essential” to expand energy access and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” And unlike the jejune knee jerks of hysterical young Americans inhaling propaganda and regurgitating it as facts, these organizations actually have a factual basis for their claims:
- -19% of all electricity in America comes from nuclear power plants
- -A single nuclear power plant uses approximately 13 acres of land to produce one megawatt of energy—a wind farm would require 45 square miles of land to produce the same amount of energy, and a solar farm nearly 260 miles
- -Wind systems generate energy 37% of the time they are operational, solar checks in at 26%–nuclear energy generates at a rate of 93%
- -The average operating license for a nuclear power plant in the United States hovers around 60 years—renewables’ operational life bottoms out at 30 years in comparison
Now we know the truth in our time belongs whoever’s shouting the loudest and the most often, so it’s no surprise that nuclear energy’s biggest drawback is a false narrative created by three-eyed fish on the Simpsons, Jane Fonda screaming for 2 and a half hours in The China Syndrome, and a generation of people cringing and recoiling in terrified stupors at any mention of the word nuclear as though it were a contagious disease. If nuclear energy is truly going to be given its proper place at the round table of clean energy discussions, then it will need to overcome nearly seventy years of mud-slinging from one end of the earth to the other.
If the disaster at Fukushima is any sort of measurement, we still have a long way to go:
While visiting Fukushima, founder of Environmental Progress, Michael Shellenberger challenged the Japanese government’s colossal efforts to remove thousands of tons of “contaminated” topsoil. The response he got was shockingly frank: “Every scientist and radiation expert in the world who comes here says the same thing. We know we don’t need to reduce radiation levels…We’re doing it because the people want us to.” –from an article on cnn.com
At OTEK we remain committed to the nuclear industry and its applications for the human race. We are an Appendix B/Class 1E nuclear-qualified supplier with technology engineered to combat rising analog obsolescence within the industry and help ensure nuclear I&C rooms smoothly transition to digital instrumentation. In that regard, we designed our Solid State Analog Meter (SSAM) to bypass the heavy financial implications of NEI 08-09 by way of being built without any critical digital components such as microprocessors—just good old CMOS logic all the way through—and is recognized as Cyber Security Exempt from such mandates. The SSAM also falls under OTEK’s “Plug n’ Play” ideological umbrella—meaning it’s designed to be compatible with most wires, panels, etc. already in place, and requires only minimal training for operators—all you have to do is remove your old ammeter from the panel where it’s been rotting in obsolescence for decades, and install the OTEK technology—you know, instrumentation from this century.
For more information on our effort to help the nuclear industry or any of our various product models, please call our office at (520) 748-7900 or email our sales office at sales@otekcorp.com