Under pressure over high energy prices, President Bush on Wednesday will propose tackling the root causes of the problem by encouraging new oil refineries be built at closed military bases and jumpstarting construction of new nuclear power plants . . .
On nuclear, Bush will propose offering companies risk insurance to mitigate the cost of delays due to any potential failures in the licensing process. The last generation of nuclear power plants was built in the 1970s and 1980s.
"There is a new and better licensing process. However, there is substantial uncertainty with potential investors about the ability to move through the new licensing process," one senior official said.
More later.
UPDATE: From the Financial Times:
Senior White House officials said Mr Bush would also call for international co-operation to promote “greater use of clean coal and nuclear power around the world” to reduce stress on global energy markets.
In addition to increasing capacity, Mr Bush believes nuclear power can also be part of the solution to climate change because it does not produce the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
It certainly seems like the planets are aligning in favor of a new international consensus to promote nuclear energy. As we've been noting for a couple of weeks now, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair seems poised to make a major announcement concerning new nuclear build in that country immediately following the May 5th Parliamentary election.
Looks like we owe a major hat tip to Roger Pielke, Jr. over at Prometheus, who picked up on this trend a couple of weeks ago. At this point, his prediction that we would see a major announcement on nuclear energy at the G8 summit in Scotland this July looks prescient.
UPDATE: The President's speech is at 2:00 p.m. We'll have more once it's complete.
AFTERNOON UPDATE: Here's the relevant passage from today's speech:
The first essential step toward greater energy independence is to apply technology to increase domestic production from existing energy resources. And one of the most promising sources of energy is nuclear power. Today's technology has made nuclear power safer, cleaner, and more efficient than ever before. Nuclear power is now providing about 20 percent of America's electricity, with no air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Nuclear power is one of the safest, cleanest sources of power in the world, and we need more of it here in America.
Unfortunately, America has not ordered a new nuclear power plant since the 1970s. France, by contrast, has built 58 plants in the same period. And today, France gets more than 78 percent of its electricity from safe, clean nuclear power.
It's time for America to start building again. That's why, three years ago, my administration launched the Nuclear Power 2010 Initiative. This is a seven-year, $1.1 billion effort by government and industry to start building new nuclear power plants by the end of this decade. One of the greatest obstacles we face to building new plants is regulatory uncertainty which discourages new plant construction. Since the 1970s, more than 35 plants were stopped at various stages of planning and construction because of bureaucratic obstacles. No wonder -- no wonder -- the industry is hesitant to start building again. We must provide greater certainty to those who risk capital if we want to expand a safe, clean source of energy that will make us less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
To do so, I've asked the Department of Energy to work on changes to existing law that will reduce uncertainty in the nuclear plant licensing process, and also provide federal risk insurance that will protect those building the first four new nuclear plants against delays that are beyond their control. A secure energy future for America must include more nuclear power.
After the President's speech, NEI released a statement from President and CEO, Skip Bowman. Here's an excerpt:
“There is widespread recognition that nuclear energy offers an emission-free source of electricity that can be readily expanded to meet our needs for reliable, baseload power and reach our clean-air goals. The expected increase of America’s electricity demand by 50 percent over the next 20 years, along with increased awareness of our global environment, means that new nuclear power plants must be part of our energy future. We look forward to working with the president and Congress to pass an energy bill that achieves the dual goals of sustainable economic growth and environmental stewardship.”
For AP's coverage of the speech, click here.
Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics
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