Lesson 1 1.3 The Environmental Benefits of Nuclear Power
PollutantCoalOilNatural GasNuclear
SO₂ (tonnes/yr)700700~0~0
NOₓ (tonnes/yr)700700200~0
CO₂ (tonnes/yr)230,000180,000100,000~0

Note: The CO₂ figure for nuclear refers to direct operational emissions only. Full life-cycle analyses (including construction, mining, and decommissioning) give nuclear a small but non-zero carbon footprint, still far lower than any fossil fuel.