Relevant Very Elementary Physics Relevant Very Elementary Physics, mostly nuclear. Unless one takes some rather complex facts on authority, which may be good enough depending on the authority, forming an opinion on nuclear energy requires just a little bit of physics. Let me assure the reader that nothing in what follows is controversial. Many readers will find nothing they don't already know. Here are some facts.
Energy is an additive quantitative entity.
The United States generated 2.572 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1987. An electric generator is rated in watts. If a one kilowatt generator runs for an hour, it produces a kilowatt-hour of electric energy. The amount of energy handled by humanity is still small compared to the amount that strikes the earth. It's about one part in 50,000.