there is more energy stored in 1 lb of uranium than in all of the coal in the state of Pennsylvania
Not supportedMark Baisley, at Colorado U.S. Senate General Election Debate (Colorado Sun)
8:31 pmWhy this verdict View evidenceHide evidence
Why we checked itA specific quantitative energy comparison between uranium and Pennsylvania's coal reserves — verifiable against physics and energy data, and if wrong would significantly mislead on nuclear energy's relative power density
What we foundIn a standard reactor, a fuel pellet holding 8.8 grams of uranium produces about as much energy as 1.3 tons of coal, so a pound of uranium matches roughly 70 tons of coal. The Pittsburgh coal bed alone, which runs under Pennsylvania and neighboring states, still holds about 16 billion tons, so the claim is off by a factor of many millions.