Since 2010, the clock has been moved forward four minutes and thirty seconds, and has changed by five minutes and thirty seconds since 1947.Ĭover of the 1947 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists issue, featuring the Doomsday Clock at "seven minutes to midnight" In January 2023, it was moved forward to 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) before midnight. The clock's setting was left unchanged in 20. In January 2020, it was moved forward to 100 seconds (1 minute, 40 seconds) before midnight. The clock was moved to two and a half minutes in 2017, then forward to two minutes to midnight in January 2018, and left unchanged in 2019. The farthest time from midnight was 17 minutes in 1991, and the nearest is 90 seconds, set on January 24, 2023. It has since been set backward eight times and forward 17 times for a total of 25. The clock's original setting in 1947 was seven minutes to midnight. The Bulletin 's Science and Security Board monitors new developments in the life sciences and technology that could inflict irrevocable harm to humanity. The main factors influencing the clock are nuclear risk and climate change. A hypothetical global catastrophe is represented by midnight on the clock, with the Bulletin 's opinion on how close the world is to one represented by a certain number of minutes or seconds to midnight, assessed in January of each year. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity from unchecked scientific and technological advances. The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a human-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Nuclear Outages report, an average of 14 gigawatts and 21 gigawatts of nuclear capacity were offline during March and April, respectively, representing about 14% and 21% of total nuclear capacity in the United States.įor a complete list of nuclear plant additions, restarts, and retirements over the past 10 years, see EIA’s Monthly Energy Review.The Doomsday Clock pictured at its 2023 setting of "90 seconds to midnight" Based on data reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and compiled in EIA’s daily Status of U.S. Unlike generation levels from wind and solar, which follow seasonal patterns that reflect the fluctuations in their resources, monthly fluctuations in nuclear generation largely reflect maintenance schedules. Retirements of a number of nuclear plants have resulted in a slightly lower level of overall nuclear generation capacity, and in turn, a lower level of generation. EIA’s STEO projects an increase of 8% and 40% in wind and solar utility-scale generation, respectively, in 2017.Īs renewable generation has increased, net generation from nuclear power has remained relatively flat since the late 1990s. In April, solar generation continued to increase, while wind generation fell slightly. These sources contributed to record high levels of generation from both fuels: between March 2016 and March 2017, wind generation increased by 16%, and solar generation increased by 65%. More than 60% of all utility-scale electricity generating capacity that came online in 2016 was from wind and solar technologies. Largely because of record precipitation and snowpack in California, EIA’s latest STEO projects an increase of 14% for hydroelectric power in 2017 compared with 2016.Įlectricity generation from wind and solar has increased as more generating capacity has been installed. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review and Electric Power MonthlyĬonventional hydroelectric generation, which remains the largest source of renewable electricity in most months, totaled 30 billion kilowatthours in March, the highest level in nearly six years. However, EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) projects that monthly nuclear electricity generation will surpass renewables again during the summer months of 2017 and that nuclear will generate more electricity than renewables for all of 2017. Record generation from both wind and solar as well as recent increases in hydroelectric power as a result of high precipitation across much of the West over the past winter contributed to the overall rise in renewable electricity generation this spring, while nuclear generation in April was at its lowest monthly level since April 2014. This outcome reflects both seasonal and trend growth in renewable generation, as well as maintenance and refueling schedules for nuclear plants, which tend to undergo maintenance during spring and fall months, when overall electricity demand is lower than in summer or winter. monthly electricity generation from utility-scale renewable sources exceeded nuclear generation for the first time since July 1984.
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