US Must Restore Leadership In Nuclear Energy: GOP Lawmaker

House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said in a hearing on April 18 that in the interest of strengthening American security, the nation must mobilize and solidify and grow its position as a leader in nuclear energy.

McMorris Rodgers made the comments at a hearing of the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. She and House colleagues had recently been on a fact-finding and diplomatic trip to Europe, where they observed energy policies and initiatives of nations on the continent.

Amid growing concern about the effects of carbon emissions and fossil fuels on the climate, nuclear energy, which is clean and does not emit carbon into the atmosphere, meets with favor from lawmakers of both parties.

The 92 nuclear reactors in the United States produce about half of the nation’s carbon-free electricity.

“Many of us just returned from Europe, where we heard a lot about the scary realities of shutting down nuclear energy,” said McMorris Rodgers.

“Putin is weaponizing Europe’s Reliance on Russian natural gas as he shuts down gas pipelines. Countries have been forced to scramble to secure their energy supplies, keep their economies running, and [keep] energy affordable. Germany, which just completed its phase-out of its nuclear power plants this weekend, is especially in crisis,” she said.

“America, not Russia or China, must lead to restore and expand our leadership in nuclear energy, and we do it by unleashing our unmatched genius for innovation, by assuring a predictable regulatory landscape to help attract investment and support decisions to expand nuclear deployment, and by encouraging new technologies that will provide exciting new nuclear applications.”

Nuclear energy industry leaders and experts testified and answered questions at the hearing, which was titled “American Nuclear Energy Expansion: Powering a Clean and Secure Future.”

Testifying at the hearing were Jeremy Harrell, Chair of the Board of Directors, U.S. Nuclear Industry Council; Regis Repko, Senior Vice President, Generation and Transmission Strategy, Duke Energy; Armond Cohen, Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force; and Dr. Jess Gehin, Associate Laboratory Director, Nuclear Science and Technology, Idaho National Laboratory.

Along with the need to grow and expand nuclear energy at home and abroad and meet the China and Russia threats, other issues that received considerable time and attention in the hearing were making more efficient the regulatory process in the building of new nuclear power plants, the disadvantage in which the United States finds itself in relying on foreign countries for almost all of the uranium needed to power its nuclear reactors, the treatment and disposal of radioactive spent materials that nuclear reactors produce, and the aging of nuclear reactors.

Challenges, Opportunities

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), chair of the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security, had also been on the Europe trip.

“We met with several groups excited about the promise of employing more nuclear, especially advanced reactors,” Duncan said.

Duncan mentioned that Germany was shutting down plants, a policy that the United States must not follow, for “nuclear energy must be part of our energy matrix.”

He added: “To expand the industry, it is vital we encourage regulatory certainty and make sure our reactor licensing processes enable the safe and broad deployment of nuclear technologies.”

Dr. Jess Gehin presented the subcommittee with a statement that detailed the extent of the dependence of the United S