Released on July 21, the report notes that a “steady state” methodology was used to produce employment estimates, rather than the “point in time” or “snapshot” methodology typically used, in order to “make allowance for the temporarily enlarged labor force employed in planning and construction of a rapidly growing industry—such as wind—against an essentially mature industry, such as nuclear.”
Specifics: Using data from the United States and France, the WNA found that for the generation of 1,000 TWh of electricity over one year, nuclear creates 461,000 jobs, and wind 346,000 jobs.
From the report: “Although nuclear generation requires significant investment in employment, it maintains a competitive advantage over intermittent sources of low-carbon electricity such as wind. As a highly reliable and stable source of electricity, nuclear generation does not require additional investment in backup capacity or storage, while investments in grids are relatively low. When the total costs of the plant and system are taken into account, nuclear offers not only more local and national job opportunities, but also provides cheaper decarbonized electricity than wind.”
A new report from the World Nuclear Association asserts that the nuclear sector provides more and better-paying jobs, as well as more highly trained jobs, than does the wind sector, and by a substantial margin. According to the 20-page report, Employment in the Nuclear and Wind Energy Generating Sectors, nuclear provides approximately 25 percent more employment per unit of electricity generated than does wind.
