Support for Nuclear Grows in Obama Administration
In recent weeks, prominent Obama Administration officials have offered public support for the important role clean and safe nuclear energy will play in securing the nation’s energy future.
Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, in an online video chat streamed live on Facebook and Whitehouse.gov on January 11, 2010: “The President believes that nuclear needs to be a part of our energy future. I think if you believe, as we do, that climate change is a serious problem, it’s a problem that needs to be addressed, then you need to be open to all the ways in which we can produce energy in a clean manner. And so nuclear obviously is one of those. We have been working with the nuclear industry to understand exactly what it is they need. We have not build a nuclear plant in this country in a long time. But we want to work with the industry, to make that happen in the not too distant future.”
Energy Secretary Steven Chu, in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on January 21, 2010 “The White House is supportive of nuclear. We see this as part of the solution. …Right now 20 percent of our electricity is from nuclear we would like to maintain that, possibly grow that. For that reason we are working aggressively to help restart the American nuclear industry with loan guarantees with research in the out years that will lead to more advanced, safer nuclear power.”
