U.S. Gets Serious About Nuclear Power

Energy Secretary Steven Chu today named a commission to develop a long-term solution to managing used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste, one of the obstacles standing in the way of generating more nuclear power.

Two Washington heavyweights will chair the commission: Lee Hamilton, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, and Brent Snowcroft, the national security adviser to both President Gerald Ford and President George H.W. Bush.

Their selection demonstrates how serious the Obama administration is about making nuclear power a larger source of electricity production in the U.S. Nuclear plants emit low levels of greenhouse gases, so even some environmentalists who used to walk around carrying “No Nukes” signs now see nuclear power as part of the solution to global warming.

“I personally think nuclear power has to play some mix in this,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a physicist who regards himself as an environmentalist.

“We’re committed to restarting this industry and regaining American leadership,” he said.

Chu’s boss, President Barack Obama, used his State of the Union address to call for “building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.”

In a memorandum issued today, the president directed Chu to establish the commission. Obama noted that increasing nuclear power production “is crucial to our ability to combat climate change, enhance energy security, and increase economic prosperity.”

Business groups that often butt heads with the president agree with him on this point. So do many of Obama’s labor-union allies—when they see new nuclear plants, they see lots of union jobs. The AFL-CIO is even co-hosting a congressional reception next month with the Nuclear Energy Institute.

A nuclear renaissance won’t happen, however, unless a solution is reached for dealing with nuclear power’s nasty byproduct: radioactive waste. The old proposed solution was to haul it to Nevada and dump it inside Yucca Mountain. That, Chu said, “is not an option” any longer.

That doesn’t mean the commission will simply pick an alternative site for nuclear waste.

“This is not a siting commission,” Chu said. “This is not about picking another spot.”

Instead, the commission will look at all of the available science concerning used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste, which Hamilton said has “advanced dramatically” since Yucca Mountain was selected as a dump site.

“We are prepared to look at all the options,” Hamilton said.

“We approach our work without any preconceived notions,” Snowcroft said.

Their 15-member commission will issue an interim report within 18 months and a final report within 24 months, but Hamilton hopes it can “move on a faster track than that.”

Nuclear power faces other challenges, particularly the cost of building new plants. Some environmentalists remain adamantly opposed to nuclear power.

But if the nuclear waste issue is solved, nuclear power could have a bright future in the U.S. Hamilton and Snowcroft are serious people, and both are keenly aware of the security issues involved in dealing with nuclear fuel. If they’re convinced it can be handled safely, nuclear power no longer will be such a radioactive issue.