Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Pushes Nuclear as Renewable Energy

This is a good thing. If "renewable energy" is mandated and nuclear counts it would allow companies to use nuclear energy to meet certain mandates that the government . The reality is that allowing nuclear to be classified as a clean energy source that would go a long way to expanding its use in the United States. Of course this is just the senate version, but its a start.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 4, 2009—The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is marking up comprehensive energy policy legislation that includes a renewable electricity standard requiring utilities to supply 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy technologies by 2021. The committee today approved provisions allowing new nuclear power plants and new nuclear plant uprates―refinements to increase generating capacity—to be deducted from the baseline of a utility’s aggregate generation used to calculate its renewable energy standard requirements. Following is a statement from Alex Flint, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s senior vice president of governmental affairs.

“The nuclear energy industry applauds Energy and Natural Resources Committee recognition of the significant role that nuclear energy plays as the nation’s largest source of carbon-free electricity production. If the goal is to reduce emissions from electricity production, then nuclear energy should be part of a portfolio of options to meet that goal.

With slew of new plants waiting to come on line this might help put them over the top.