Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Nuclear power

The cost of retirement

Nuclear power has been a major source of electricity in the United States, but much of the country’s nuclear fleet is nearing retirement. New research highlights the risks associated with replacing nuclear power with fossil fuels, including increases in greenhouse gas emissions and health impacts from air pollution.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Most U.S. nuclear power plants were built between 1970 and 1990. IEA https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30972 (27 April 2017).

  2. Cho, S.-H., Tanaka, K., Wu, J., Robert, R. K. & Kim, T. Energy Econ. 55, 223–233 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Roth, M. B. & Jaramillo, P. Energy 131, 67–77 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cushing, L. J., Li, S., Steiger, B. B. & Casey, J. A. Nat. Energy 8, 52–61 (2022).

  5. Severnini, E. Nat Energy 2, 17051 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Buonocore, J. J., Salimifard, P., Magavi, Z. & Allen, J. G. Sci. Rep. 12, 11931 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Freese, L., Chossiere, G., Eastham, S., Jenn, A. & Selin, N. Nat. Energy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01241-8 (2023).

  8. Epstein, P. R. et al. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1219, 73–98 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Willis, M. D., Cushing, L. J., Buonocore, J. J., Deziel, N. C. & Casey, J. A. It’s Electric! An environmental equity perspective on the lifcycle of our energy sources in Environ. Epidemiol. (in the press).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan J. Buonocore.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Buonocore, J.J. The cost of retirement. Nat Energy 8, 427–428 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01236-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01236-5

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene