Background Nuclear Power

About 20 percent of America’s electricity is generated from nuclear power. Some states, such as South Carolina, generate more than 50 percent of their electricity from nuclear power. The three nuclear power plants operated by Duke Energy—McGuire, Oconee, and Catawba nuclear stations—produced approximately 50 percent of the electricity generated by the company’s electric operations in the Carolinas.

As our population grows, we will need more and more energy to produce food, to power factories and to drive our productivity. We will have to generate much more electricity than we do today, and this will require vast amounts of fuel.

Alternative energy sources—solar power, geothermal energy, wind power, biomass - still have a long way to go before they can produce consistent and significant amounts of energy. Our oil resources will be earmarked for transportation purposes and other end-uses, for which we have few or no substitutes.

Nuclear energy will continue to be an important energy source for the world in years to come. We have the ability to produce electricity safely and economically using nuclear energy, as well as the ability to safely isolate the wastes produced by the process.