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It is a bipartisan appeal to President Obama
In a speech to the City Club of Idaho Falls last week, Sen. Mike Crapo, the state's senior senator, called for a national nuclear energy summit. He said that defining the nation's use of civilian nuclear energy should be handled through a bipartisan meeting involving a broad range of stakeholders.
Crapo's call for the summit was joined by 10 other senators from both parties. It represents a hand across the partisan divide which has separated republicans and democrats on energy policy since President Obama took office.
“With applications for 22 new reactors that could be built over the next ten to twenty years, and the President’s new commitment to build reactors, it is time for the Congress and the Executive Branch to join together to address our energy needs through safe, clean nuclear power,” Crapo said.
Crapo said the summit could include the President, his Cabinet, members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, industry, consumers and representatives from our national energy laboratories, including DOE’s lead national nuclear lab, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
Crapo has discussed nuclear issues, including federal loan guarantees for AREVA’s proposed Eagle Rock Enrichment facility near Idaho Falls, with Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The Administration’s budget for Fiscal Year 2011 includes a recommendation to increase loan volume guarantee for the construction of nuclear reactors to $54 billion.
No shell games with loan guarantees
In an interview with the Idaho Falls Post Register April 5, Crapo also warned "special interests" not to try to use the nuclear energy summit to gain advantages.
He may be referring to reports that Exelon and Entergy want to use federal loan guarantees to pay for up-rates and plant improvements rather than new reactors.
Crapo said nuclear energy is too important to be left to partisan or special interests. It is a national priority.
"We need to have nuclear power be a part of our national energy policy, and today it is not. It's starting to rebound and become much stronger than it has been in the past. But the public is much more aware of the need for it. And the potential for nuclear power to be a solution for our national energy needs is phenomenal."
List of issues for the summit
The Senators’ letter to the President said the nuclear summit should address several issues, including:
- The development of a 50-year strategy to ensure that nuclear power continues to play a vital role in our domestic energy supply;
- Major initiatives that are currently underway or contemplated for the national and the extent to which these set the stage for the nuclear energy strategy;
- The responsibilities of government and the private sector in fulfilling a nuclear strategy; and
- The potential for an on-going working group providing advice and ensuring policies are implemented for a national nuclear energy policy.
Crapo was joined in sending the letter to the White House by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), Tom Carper (D-Delaware), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), David Vitter (R-Louisiana), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Jim Webb (D-Virginia).
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