This article compares the energy potential of nuclear reactors with that of wind turbines, solar panels, and hydroelectric power plants. The article explains that nuclear energy has higher energy potential and operates closer to its full potential than other energy sources. The article also discusses the emissions associated with nuclear energy compared to other energy sources. Teachers may want to discuss events and ideas that have influenced public opinion of nuclear energy and the differences between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. The resource Introduction to Nuclear Energy illustrates the differences between the two methods. Students can also use this article as part of their research for this Social Studies Lesson: Nuclear Energy.
Written By: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
The MIT Climate Change Engagement Program, a part of MIT Climate HQ, provides the public with nonpartisan, easy-to-understand, and scientifically-grounded information on climate change and its solutions.
To compare different ways of making electricity, you need to know both how much electricity a power plant can make at its peak, known as its “capacity,” and the percentage of the year the plant runs at that rate, called its “capacity factor.”
Today, nuclear reactors range in capacity from about 300 megawatts—for small reactors that are still being experimented with—to about 1600 megawatts. The average nuclear reactor has about 900 megawatts of capacity. (Larger nuclear plants use multiple reactors to achieve much higher capacities.) By comparison, the average capacity of a land-based wind turbine installed in 2022 was about 3 megawatts (offshore wind turbines are larger).
So even if both types of plants ran at their top performance day in and day out, hundreds of wind turbines would be needed to produce the same amount of electricity as the average nuclear project, says John Parsons, the deputy director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
