Nuclear plants operating today continue to demonstrate their unrelenting commitment to safety. They operate safely year in, year out. In fact, they are in operation for longer periods, and with more consistency than at any earlier time in their history. Achieving capacity factors of around 90% since the mid 1990s. That’s why nuclear plants now produce the lowest cost power on the US power grid.

The US is not alone in this high level of safe operation. Europe and Asia are coming to rely more and more on nuclear generation. The average for the highly industrialized countries is 16% of power from nuclear. France generates more than 80% of its power through nuclear plants. Japan generates about 30% of its power with nuclear. And China plans to fuel its huge economic growth by commissioning roughly two new reactors a year between now and 2020.

This suggests not only safety, but has provided opportunities for the US plant manufacturers, GE and Westinghouse, to continue to design and build new plants — learning and refining features for safety and efficiency all the while. In fact, there are 24 new nuclear plants under construction today in seven countries but none in the US.

The newest technologies build upon the safety features of the current plants. Designs are refined to have far less piping and a minimum number of valves and pumps — in one new design, for example, there are 50% fewer valves, 35% fewer pumps, 83% less piping, and 87% less control cable than in currently operating plants. They incorporate passive safety features based on the laws of physics. Additionally, they can use cost-effective modular construction techniques resulting in less construction-related financial risk.

In today's heightened concerns over terrorism, the industry, working with the NRC, instituted additional security measures since Sept. 11, such as: extending and fortifying security perimeters, increasing patrols within security zones, installing new barriers to protect against vehicle bombs, installing additional high-tech surveillance equipment, and improving security staff, including training in weapons proficiency. Each nuclear power plant in the US has spent an average of $10 million on new security measures since Sept. 11. As a result, nuclear plants are the most secure, hardened industrial facilities in the nation — with 7,000 security officers at 67 sites. And the industry’s security programs are regulated by the federal government. As proof of effectiveness, it should be noted that the FBI classifies nuclear power plants as difficult targets.