According to the Hoosier Environmental Council, because of the concentration of coal-fired power plants in the Ohio River Valley, it has been estimated that ozone pollution is worse for longer periods of time in the Ohio River Valley than in New York City. Ground-level ozone contributes to respiratory illness, including asthma in children, and by some estimates contributes to thousands of premature deaths in the United States each year. One of those plants is Clifty Creek located near Madison, Indiana. Clifty Creek provides almost all of its generating capacity to power the uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio. An additional 9 percent of Clifty Creek is owned by Ohio-based Cinergy.
Nitrogen oxide is an ozone precursor.
Once it reacts with sunlight, it forms ground-level ozone. Sulfur dioxide reacts in the atmosphere to form acid rain. In addition, Clifty Creek is responsible for almost ten million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. So, the next time you see an ad placed by American Electric Power and their nuclear power friends about the environmentally benign nature of nuclear power, remember Clifty Creek and the fact that the nuclear power industry could not survive without coal-fired power plants. Obviously, the aggressive pro-nuclear power campaign mounted by American Electric Power and its allies ignores the downside of nuclear power.