US House Commerce head sees resurgence in US nuclear power
Date: 28-Mar-01
Country: USA
Author: Patrick Connole
Although no new U.S. nuclear power plants have been built in 25 years, Republican lawmakers are taking a closer look at how the industry could fit into a broad national plan to boost domestic energy supplies and limit oil imports.
Rep. Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican, said the federal government needs to make it easier for nuclear power generation to remain a vital component of the national energy mix.
"There should be no question that the nation's energy problems would be much worse without the nuclear industry's impressive and safe track record of sustained output," Tauzin said in a statement delivered at a House energy subcommittee hearing.
"Recently, I have noticed the initial stages of a resurgence of interest in nuclear power. The current energy crisis has helped us to understand that natural gas and coal should not be the only fuel sources for developing future generating capacity."
Environmentalists generally oppose expansion of the nuclear industry, saying the plants produce huge amounts of radioactive waste that must be safely stored for hundreds of years.
20 PCT OF U.S. ELECTRICITY FROM NUCLEAR POWER
Nuclear power from 103 commercial plants currently provides 20 percent of U.S. electricity generation.
Coal, which fuels a sizable number of U.S. power plants, dirties the air. Natural gas-and oil-fueled power plants have become more expensive and have other environmental issues.
But the future role of nuclear power is clouded because plants are aging and no new nuclear plants have been permitted in this country since 1975.
Added to that is the continuing battle over nuclear waste.
Some 40,000 tons of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods are now stored at scores of plants despite a requirement that the Department of Energy build a permanent repository.
The most likely site in Yucca Mountain, Nev., has not been approved yet. The Republican-led Senate failed last year to override then-President Bill Clinton's veto of legislation to start building a repository in the Nevada desert.
Tauzin's remarks echoed the sentiments of Vice President Dick Cheney, who last week said nuclear power could help alleviate concerns about global warming.
"If you want to do something about carbon dioxide emissions, then you ought to build nuclear power plants. They don't emit any carbon dioxide. They don't emit greenhouse gases," Cheney said on MSNBC television.
Cheney leads a White House task force preparing recommendations for President George W. Bush on how the nation could boost domestic energy supplies. While the recommendations are being prepared, House and Senate Republicans are forging ahead with their own legislative proposals.
WASTE DANGEROUS-GREEN GROUPS
Environmentalists blanch at the idea of using nuclear power as an answer to global warming concerns, or even as a potential source of new generation.
Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy organization, last week said that despite what Cheney believes, nuclear power cannot be considered a zero-emissions fuel source.
"Contrary to the vice president's assertions, nuclear power is not capable of combating global warming because of the exorbitant cost of reactors and the long lead time needed to build them," the organization said.
It also said the steps needed to generate nuclear power, like mining uranium and enriching radioactive fuel, add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Tauzin told the House panel that the following areas could be addressed by federal regulators or Congress to make nuclear power more viable:
* Require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to administer its rules "in a consistent and even-handed manner that does not discourage companies from future investment."
* Prepare the NRC to renew as many as 30 reactor licenses that are set to expire in a few years. Thus far, the NRC has renewed licenses to extend the life of five nuclear reactors.
* Train "rusty" NRC staff for possible future requests
