Skip to main content

House Committee on Government Reform: Nuclear Is 'Only Sensible Path Forward'

The House Committee on Government Reform has issued a report aimed at advancing energy policies to sustain U.S. economic growth and reduce dependency on foreign oil and gas.

The report, “Securing America’s Energy Future,” recommends that nuclear energy become the primary provider of baseload electricity. At the same time, it calls for steps to reduce oil consumption, develop alternative transportation fuels and avoid use of natural gas as a baseload source of power.

Here are the key findings of the report:
• the current period of high, volatile oil prices is demand-driven, “and not caused by supply restrictions instituted by producers or political upheaval”
• given today’s tight global markets with little excess capacity, the United States is vulnerable to “catastrophic supply shock” in view of current geopolitics
• the United States must pursue production and conservation; these are not “either or” options
• reduction of demand for oil in the transportation sector is essential, as this sector consumes more than two-thirds of the country’s supply
• the government must strengthen corporate average fuel economy standards to help reduce demand for oil and enhance domestic competition
• in addition to developing alternative transportation fuels, the country must pursue aggressively renewable energy, clean coal technology and “next generation nuclear”
• in turning away from natural gas as a baseload source of electricity, the country must redirect its use in industries as feedstock or primary energy and not a “substitute for fuel-switching”
• nuclear must be the “primary generator of baseload energy, thereby relieving the pressure on natural gas and dramatically improving atmospheric emissions.”
Nuclear energy, the report continued, will “free natural gas supplies for critical uses in manufacturing processes, reduce electricity costs to the consumer, be emission-free and pave the way for drastically reduced petroleum dependency” with hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The report called the use of nuclear energy as the country’s primary source of baseload power “the only sensible path forward.” It strongly encouraged Congress to “acknowledge the centrality of nuclear power’s role as a solution” to global warming and climate change.

The report cited “diminishing” concerns in the scientific and technical community “over whether nuclear waste can be safely managed, and a “general agreement … that disposal in a deep geologic repository is achievable” and preferable.” In addition, the report advocated increased funding to develop advanced fuel-cycle technologies, make reprocessing more economical and address proliferation concerns.

UPDATE: More from Noblesse Oblige.

Technorati tags: , , , , , ,

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should