Nuclear plants still hold value to Ohio, MIT experts argue

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s two aging nuclear power plants have plenty of life left in them and it would prove more economical to keep them running than if the state had to bring other sources of clean electricity online to meet future demand, a pair of experts said Wednesday.

Co-authors of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on the value of nuclear energy nationally and internationally told lawmakers that the plants’ economic value goes beyond what they can get for the electricity they produce.

“We need solar and wind, but we also need something that is dispatchable and controllable,” Jacopo Buongiorno, of MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, told the state House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The study suggests that nuclear power does and will continue to play an important role in providing low carbon-emission power nationally and could provide a hedge for future uncertainty over demand, natural gas prices, and environmental regulation. There was next to no discussion about the nuclear waste generated by the plants.

Read more: https://www.toledoblade.com/local/environment/2019/02/27/ohio-nuclear-plants-hold-value-davis-besse-experts-mit/stories/20190227137