January 14, 2009

Moving Ahead on Nukes

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MOVING AHEAD ON NUKES….Hillary Clinton got all the press yesterday, but Steven Chu was up on Capitol Hill too and he got lots of questions about nuclear power during his confirmation hearing for Secretary of Energy. Blogger KB of NEI Nuclear Notes says, “If you’re a proponent of nuclear energy in the United States, I’m not sure that Steven Chu’s testimony…could be any more encouraging.” Here’s one excerpt from the transcript:

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN): The issue of nuclear. I’m gonna skip down and just be very brief since you’ve had now nine questions regarding that. I noticed a lot of people say that they support nuclear, but they also mention the waste issue. And it’s as if once we solve the waste issue then we can pursue nuclear again. It’s my understanding, based on what I’ve heard here today, you mean pursue nuclear now in spite of the, some of the issues that we have regarding waste. Is that correct? All out now? Loan guarantees, let’s move ahead. We have 104 plants today. Probably need 300, let’s move on?

Steven Chu: Yes, because I’m pretty confident, I’m confident that the Department of Energy, perhaps in collaboration with other countries, can get a solution to the nuclear waste problem.

Italics mine. Obama has been fairly ambiguous about nuclear power in the past. “We should explore nuclear power as part of the mix,” he said during the primaries, but he’s also insisted that his support was contingent on first solving safety, waste storage, terrorist attack, and weapons proliferation concerns. Conversely, Chu seems to be much more nuke friendly. I don’t know how much of a bellwether this is, but it’s worth noting. More at the link.

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