Friday, November 14, 2008

President Barack Obama and Nuclear Power

Senator Barack Obama was mildly pro nuclear. Presidential candidate Barack Obama believed nuclear power should 'be on the table.' But he was caught on video saying "I am not a proponent of nuclear power." What will President Obama's position be as president? Our guess is that it will be similar to his past positions. He will support nuclear power and challenge the industry to solve the nuclear waste issue. Yet it will be up to him to get Yucca Mountain, the mandated repository for spent nuclear waste, opened sooner than the current projected opening date (2017). He will be in charge of the U.S. Department of Energy, which has authority under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to operate the facility. He will also be in charge of the licensing agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We suggest that President Obama should establish a separate Nuclear Waste Management Agency to manage this complex area.

Once the nuclear waste issue is under control, President Obama could embark upon a program to accelerate nuclear power plant construction in order to supply the electricity we need while simultaneously mitigating global warming. Clean nuclear power will also produce tens of thousands of green collar construction jobs.

No comments: