While Japan has taken off line all its nuclear plants and China is in the middle of an extraordinary nuclear plant building surge, US nuclear plants continue to provide about 20% of our electricity or 10% of our total energy.
Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, and Texas, in that order, rank 1 through 5, in nuclear power capacity. www.eia.gov/nuclear/state.
Illinois leads the nation with, 11,441 megawatts of nuclear capacity; Pennsylvania ranks second at 9,540 megawatts; South Carolina, New York, and Texas have 6,486, 5,271, and 4,966 megawatts respectively.
Thirty states have a nuclear power plant, with Vermont ranked number 30 at 620 megawatts. The Vermont state government is embroiled in a battle with the owner of the nuclear plant, seeking to compel its closure.
While Vermont seeks to close its only nuclear plant, just three new nuclear power plants are being constructed or completed in Georgia and Tennessee.
As of 2011, renewable energy of all types, including biofuels, provided more total energy than America's nuclear plants.
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