LETTER: Nevada should be a leader in nuclear energy
It was interesting that your Saturday editorial mentioned nuclear power as a way to attain the carbon-free goals of the Green New Deal and the state of Nevada. Maybe it is time to consider an enhanced business line for the state in the energy business.
Other states have exploited coal and oil to achieve a bonanza of economic benefit. Maybe Nevada can join those ranks with the new fuel of the energy economy: nuclear.
Americans spend close to $1 trillion on energy each year, whether to propel their cars or light their houses. Whether you know it or not, spent nuclear fuel is energy. Lots of energy. Nevada is the only state in the union with the opportunity to be paid to produce over the next couple of centuries clean, green energy. Even if we got only 5 percent of this business, it would amount to $50 billion per year in revenue. This money could offset the loss of jobs in the entertainment industry due to automation. It could allow some of our brightest young scholars to stay in Nevada after we pay to educate them.
Face it, energy is here to stay, and Nevada has been offered a seat in the front row. Combined with our leadership in wind and solar, it would place Nevada in the driver’s seat as the leading green energy repository in the world. Can we at least talk about it?