PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 7, 2022
In her Jan. 1 letter to the editor, Sigrid Olson states no new nuclear plants should be built until there is a national solution for safe disposal of nuclear waste. This is an example of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Trade-offs exist in every solution for reducing carbon emissions. Sustainable energy sources have not been growing fast enough to make any discernible effect on atmospheric carbon, and wind and solar power are demonstrably unreliable for operating the electric power grid. After construction a nuclear power plant will run for at least 50 years at minimal cost. Nuclear waste is currently encased in cement at plant sites, and to date there have been no radiation leakages. And, unlike wind turbines, nuclear power plants do not slaughter birds. ~ Janet Jones, Freeport