Sen. Elizabeth Warren pledges not to invest in nuclear energy and focus on renewables instead
Sep 09, 2019 -- By Douglas Hook | dhook@masslive.com
Sen. Elizabeth Warren made clear in a Sept. 4 climate town hall meeting that if she is successful in taking office as president, she will not invest in nuclear energy.
The Democratic presidential hopeful pledged to not only prevent the building of new power plants, but also said she would phase out all nuclear power by 2035 and replace it with renewables. After 52 years of producing energy, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station closed its doors on May 31.
Warren was asked what her opinion on nuclear energy replacing fossil fuels are during the Climate Town Hall.
“[Nuclear energy] is not carbon based, but it has a lot of risks associated with it,” said Warren. “Particularly the risks associated with spent fuel rods.”
According to a Gallup poll in 2016 many Americans have expressed worry about nuclear power and the waste from nuclear in the past and are concerned about the effects on the environment but experts say otherwise.
“All of the used nuclear fuel generated in every nuclear plant in the past 50 years would fill a football field to a depth of less than 10 yards, and 96 % of this waste can be recycled,” wrote Kenneth S. Krane, professor of physics at Oregon State University in his book Introductory Nuclear Physics.