Nuclear better option than natural gas

 LETTER: Nuclear better option than natural gas September 1, 2020 10:00 PM EDT https://fredericksburg.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/letter-nuclear-better-option-than-natural-gas/article_651176f5-5ac0-5117-b498-266ba97df87e.html 

https://tinyurl.com/Nuclear-Advantage

 The points raised in “A cautionary energy tale from California” [Editorial, Aug. 30] are some of the points our nonprofit, Californians for Green Nuclear Power Inc. , has been raising before many regulatory and oversight bodies since 2016. Unfortunately, our fact-based testimony supporting the continued safe operation of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is being avoided. CGNP believes the reason why is the enrichment of special interests, including fossil energy wholesalers, at the expense and safety of the general public. “Big fossil” profits when large amounts of inherently intermittent solar and wind are forced onto the power grid, making the remaining generators run less efficiently. More fossil energy is consumed. But decision makers and the general public are convinced via a relentless public relations campaign funded by fossil fuel interests (and others) that they are helping the environment. No. This situation is a consequence of the laws of physics and thermodynamics. Your vehicle gets much better mileage (is more efficient) when operated at constant speed on the open road relative to driving in a gridlocked, stop-and-go pattern. CGNP will soon raise before federal regulators some difficult-to-ignore facts regarding the vulnerability of natural gas-fired electricity to human-caused and natural disruptions to the system that brings natural gas from the wellhead to the burner tip. Natural gas is a “just in time” fuel that is impractical to store at a generator site. Natural gas moves at only 15 mph through natural gas transmission lines. Nuclear power operates independently of the aging and vulnerable natural gas transmission and storage system. The reliability (and zero-emissions) benefits of nuclear power are not rewarded in most states, including the Commonwealth of Virginia. Deep-pocketed fossil fuel interests have fought such common-sense legislation. CGNP hopes that decision makers and the public will change course before it is too late. 

 Gene Nelson, Ph.D. Legal Assistant, 

 Californians for Green Nuclear Power Inc.

 Arroyo Grande, Calif.