An alumnus of the University of Southern California, Dianoush Emami earned his BS in electrical engineering in 1981 and subsequently joined Bechtel Power Corporation, where he served as an electrical engineer until 1987. Dianoush Emami has also gained experience in electrical high-voltage transmission and project design and management, as well as facilities in the biofuel, alternative energy, and nuclear power plant sectors.
Nuclear power plants produce energy by splitting heavy uranium atoms in a process called nuclear fission. Nuclear fission releases a lot of energy in the form of heat, which the plant uses to create steam. The pressure from the steam drives mechanical processes that result in electricity.
Nuclear energy is clean and sustainable. This is because it produces a large amount of electricity without polluting the air with carbon, unlike fossil fuel. The waste materials generated (typically carbon-free) are not released into the air. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the United States averted 476 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2019. Nuclear power plants generate approximately 20 percent of the electricity used in the United States, making nuclear energy the second largest source of clean electricity in the country.
