OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander called Wednesday for doubling the number of nuclear reactors nationwide, a potentially $700 billion proposal that calls for building 100 more over 20 years.''It is an aggressive goal, but with presidential leadership it could happen,'' the third-ranking Senate Republican told an economic and technology conference at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge.''I am convinced it should happen because conservation and nuclear power are the only real alternatives we have today to produce enough low-cost, reliable, clean energy to clean the air, deal with climate change and keep good jobs from going overseas.''
Alexander said he would deliver that message next week speaking on the floor of the Senate, where he said all 40 Republicans and many Democrats support nuclear energy. He said he hopes President Barack Obama's administration would embrace his call under efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Obama's administration is considering a cap-and-trade program designed to reduce greenhouse gases and to require larger quantities of carbon-free energy production.
The country's 104 commercial nuclear reactors produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity, while most of its energy comes from carbon-producing coal. The last reactor to come online was the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Unit 1 reactor in Spring City, Tenn., in 1996.
Too bad Obama shut Yucca storage facility as a favor to Reid.
Too bad almost no one will listen to Alexander.
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ReplyDeleteMcCain was the only presidential candidate as of late who expressed an interest in building new nuclear plants. Usually, nuclear energy $/KW isn't as cost effective as coal, but it is orders of magnitude more effective than either solar or wind.
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