A new interactive map tells you exactly how far you live from a nuclear reactor
Quick: where’s the nearest nuclear power plant?
This is probably not a question you’re asked all that often. But it’s one worth knowing the answer to for a couple of reasons: the basic value in knowing where some of your electricity comes from and, in the extremely unlikely event of a meltdown, the practical knowledge of whether you’ll have to evacuate your home.[…]Seeing all the plants laid out on a national map also conveys an interesting point. Because most electricity use is in cities, a nuclear plant (unlike wind or solar) can be built pretty much anywhere, and transmitting electricity over great distances causes some of the energy to be lost to friction, most of the plants are logically located near large urban areas. For better or worse, of the country’s biggest 20 metro areas by population, at least part of 14 of them lies within 50 miles of a nuclear plant. Overall, about a third of Americans live within one of the 50-mile radiuses. If you’re reading this article somewhere in the U.S., there’s a good chance that a nuclear plant is relatively closeby.
Read more (with a map) at Do You Live Within 50 Miles of a Nuclear Power Plant?
