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Is nuclear clean, renewable energy?

Nuclear energy has produced electricity in America since 1958. But is nuclear energy clean, renewable energy?

Johanna Neumann, Caitlin Soch

In 1951, in Idaho, researchers powered a lightbulb using nuclear energy for the first time, and the American Atomic Energy Age was born. The Atomic Age came to symbolize progress, modernity and the power of science. By 1958, the first commercial nuclear power plant was up and running in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. In just seven years, research took us from powering a lightbulb with nuclear energy, to powering over a hundred thousand homes. 

In 2023, there were 93 operating nuclear reactors in the United States. As concerns over climate change have grown in recent decades, some proponents of nuclear energy characterize it as “clean energy”. The debate over whether nuclear energy is clean, renewable energy often lacks some critical context on how we define what constitutes clean and renewable energy.

What is clean, renewable energy?

While all forms of energy impact our environment, the impacts of some forms of energy are far greater than others.

Truly clean, renewable energy is:

1. Virtually pollution-free: It produces little to no planet-warming pollution or health-threatening pollution.
2. Inexhaustible: It comes from natural sources that are regenerative or practically unlimited. No matter how much we use, there will always be more.
3. Safe: It has minimal impacts on the environment, community safety and public health, and those impacts that do occur are temporary, not permanent.
4. Efficient: It is a wise use of resources

There are a lot of ways in which nuclear power does not fit these criteria. 

Is nuclear energy renewable?

Take a closer look at the criteria and how nuclear fits into each one:

Nuclear Energy:

When we think of pollution, we often think of oil in our oceans or smog in our skies. But there are lots of different kinds of pollution; when it comes to nuclear energy, there are two main ways pollution is created: mining for nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. While nuclear energy does not directly produce greenhouse gas pollution like carbon dioxide or methane, it does produce other pollution that harms humans and our environment. 

Mining nuclear fuel pollutes our environment.

The most common nuclear fuel is uranium. Uranium is a radioactive element that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust. To use it in a nuclear power plant, uranium has to be mined and, like all mining operations, has the potential to pollute the environment. Unlike many mining operations, uranium mines carry the risk of radioactive contamination.

The process of mining uranium unearths other pollutants such as arsenic, mercury, and radioactive uranium itself. From the mining operation, these pollutants can make their way into groundwater and surface water. There are documented cases of pollution in communities as a result of uranium mining. 

Nuclear power plants produce radioactive waste.

Nuclear waste is an unavoidable byproduct of the technology used in today’s nuclear reactors. Just like coal turns to ash, or oil gets burned up, nuclear fuel is depleted over time. Eventually the fuel is used or “spent” to the point it is taken out of the reactor, but it still emits radiation. In fact, spent fuel from nuclear power plants remains radioactive for thousands of years. To date, no safe, long-term storage solution has been found for this waste. While the U.S. has regulations for handling nuclear waste, there are already 90,000 metric tons of it to reckon with in the U.S. alone. That’s about 440 times the weight of the Statue of Liberty. Storage of nuclear waste carries the risk of exposure to radiation for people, plants, wildlife, water supplies, and soils.

Nuclear accidents can spread pollution far and wide.

Major nuclear power incidents like Fukushima and Chernobyl produced a great deal of radioactive pollution contaminating air, soil, and water while taking a toll on human health.

Is not inexhaustible…..…………………………………………………………….

Is not safe enough to be considered “safe”………………………………………………….

Is inefficient…………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………. https://environmentamerica.org/articles/is-nuclear-energy-renewable/

February 3, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY