Opportunities and Challenges for Nuclear Power
The House Science and Technology Committee met 23 April to discuss“Opportunities and Challenges for Nuclear Power,” particularly the issues and benefits of increasing the amount of nuclear power generated in the U.S.
Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) stated that growing global energy needs has led to an increasing interest in nuclear power, partly because nuclear power does not emit greenhouse gases. While that is a major benefit, there are many concerns with nuclear energy including high costs, waste storage, and the possibility of nuclear proliferation.
Waste storage is a particularly contentious issue. The current form of dry cask storage is considered safe for hundreds of years. But the long half-life of Uranium requires safe storage for much longer time periods. The only facility designed for such long-term storage, the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada, has been imbued in controversy for decades. If Yucca Mountain can surmount these obstacles, the earliest it could open is 2017.
Gordon asked the witness panel if waste reduction and nuclear material recycling are feasible to reduce the amount of waste needing storage. Mr. Robert Fri, Chair of the National Research Council Committee on Review of DOE's Nuclear Energy Research and Development Program, and Vice Admiral John Grossenbacher, Director of the Idaho National Laboratory, said these technologies cannot be implemented yet at a commercial scale.
It has been over twenty years since a new nuclear power plant has been built in the U.S. In hopes of encouraging new power plants, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently implemented a streamlined application process for plant licenses.
Dr. Thomas Cochran, Senior Scientist in the Nuclear Program at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), stated repeatedly that Congress' highest priority should be to pass Senate bill S.2191, America's Climate Security Act. He argued that once greenhouse gas emissions are capped and companies must pay for emissions, as they would under S.2191, more companies will want to invest in nuclear power because it does not produce greenhouse gases.
Other important issues discussed were the societal aspects of nuclear power, including a lack of public confidence, public safety and proliferation, and a decreasing nuclear workforce. Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) stated that a government program to train nuclear engineers had been cut and should be reinstated to bolster nuclear technology and expertise in the U.S. It is yet unclear how many new nuclear plants, if any, will be built in the U.S., aided by the increasing public interest in energy that does not produce greenhouse gases and the restructured Nuclear Regulatory Commission application process.
