Nuclear plants significant to Arizona, US economiesJul 09 - Investing.comA recent report by the Brattle Group said that nuclear power plants are significant to Arizona and the U.S. economically. According to the report, nuclear power contributes $1.6 billion in direct and secondary output and $1.1 billion in gross domestic product in Arizona . Arizona also accounts for 5,700 jobs in nuclear. One of the largest nuclear power plants, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station , is powered by Phoenix -based Arizona Public Service Co. In 2014, it was named the nations largest power producer for the 23rd year. In addition, Palo Verde also exceeded its own record for power generation for the 10th time. The new record, as of 2014, is 32.3 million mega-watt hours (MWh) compared to the old record in 2012 of 31.9 million MWh. Palo Verde is the only power plant in the nation to generate more than 30 million MWh. In addition, all three Palo Verde units are ranked among the top six energy producers in the U.S. Palo Verde has an annual economic impact of $1.8 billion in Arizona through taxes, salaries, purchases of materials and services and more, according to APS. Nationally, nuclear energy accounts for $60 billion in GDP, 475,000 full-time jobs and prevents 573 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions are worth an annual $25 billion at the U.S. governments estimate for social cost of carbon. Nuclear energy helps keep energy prices low. If it stopped, retail electricity would increase 6 percent, according to the report. In addition, nuclear energy accounts for $10 billion in federal revenue and $2.2 billion in state taxes annually. It also accounts for 20 percent of U.S. electricity. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=36723108 |