President Bush: We must expand our nuclear power industry."

President Bush addressed a meeting of the National Association of Manufacturers here in Washington yesterday, and he continued to beat the drum for more nuclear energy:

Here's some ideas. One, we must -- we must expand our nuclear power industry if we want to be competitive in the 21st century. (Applause.) We have got to be wise -- we have got to push hard to build new plants. And the energy bill I signed last year is -- it's a good step forward. This government is going to spend a lot of money on fast breeder reactor technology. We're going to join with other countries to work on fast breeder reactor technology so that we can burn reprocessed fuel which will reduce the waste on civilian nuclear energy. In other words, there's technological gains to be made that will enable us to even advance nuclear power even faster.

And by the way, it's not only in our interest to develop nuclear power, it's in the interest of our country that India and China develop nuclear power. In the global energy market, when demand for hydrocarbons goes up in energy in China, it affects your gasoline prices. And therefore, the more we can help these countries develop technology, the more we can help them develop a civilian nuclear industry that is safe, the better off it is for American consumers.

Thanks to our friend at NAM, Pat Cleary for the heads up.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Electricity, Environment, Energy