President Obama’s Long Term Energy Strategy Includes Nuclear Power 

President Obama’s Long Term Energy Strategy Includes Nuclear

Positive predictions for the future of nuclear energy were made at the May 13th conference hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy.  Members of the Obama administration, Congress, and concerned individuals met to discuss future energy options.  At the conference several congressional leaders named nuclear energy as part of a comprehensive energy plan for the nation.

Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar stated that the United States should move forward with a strategic energy plan that includes nuclear energy.  He also addressed President Obama’s stance on nuclear power, saying that nuclear is among the options he includes when he speaks about the necessity of a diverse mix of energy sources.

One hundred nuclear plants over the next 20 years

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) suggested that conservation and nuclear power could fill the “potentially dangerous energy gap between the renewable energy we would all like to have and the reliable, low-cost energy that we have to have.”  Alexander proposed building 100 new nuclear power plants over the next 20 years and in a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee meeting held on May 19th told Energy Secretary Steven Chu that “we should be as aggressive about expanding nuclear power . . . as we are with wind and solar.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) said, “We’ve seen the dangers of global warming and the dangers of dependence on foreign sources of energy,” adding, “This is a transformative time for America’s energy policy.”

Hoyer also said he feels the best strategy is one that “embraces balance— from renewables to coal with carbon capture and sequestration; from nuclear power to domestic drilling to investments in energy efficiency.”

“I don’t think we can get there from here, to where we want to get, without nuclear,” he added.

Baseload identified as an obstacle for renewable energy

Robert Blue, senior vice president of public policy and corporate communications at Dominion, was also present.  He advised that the American economy demands a baseload of electricity that is greater than renewable energy sources alone are capable of providing.

He compared a West Virginia wind farm co-owned by Dominion that has about a 30 percent capacity factor to nuclear plants’ capacity factors above 90 percent.  Blue maintained that nuclear energy is a proven carbon-free technology “that we can count on.”

A supposed counterpoint that has been given profile in the press recently comes from John Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  It has been reported on two separate occasions that he has discredited the concept of baseload and in particular the need for nuclear; however, when directly challenged on this at the NEA assembly this week Mr. Wellinghoff blinked.  He responded that there are any number of rational scenarios that could be envisioned but that ultimately markets would be the deciding factor.

Financing options addressed

To help with new nuclear reactor construction, loan guarantees will be critical to provide financing.  Currently, the U.S. Department of Energy offers $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear plants.  Hoyer said this program is “not going to be enough.  Nuclear energy is very cost-effective energy, but initial capital investment is very large, and we have to recognize that.”

Hoyer also addressed the Clean Energy Technology Deployment Administration concept, which is under consideration in Congress.  The concept is to offer financing to different forms of clean energy at no cost to taxpayers, similar to the Export-Import Bank does for U.S. exports.

Overall, nuclear energy fared well at the conference.  U.S. leaders recognize nuclear power certainly has its place among energy solutions of the future.  There are many steps needed to get us there, but we’re definitely on the right track.

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