The Obama administration moved closer to supporting the nuclear industry lobby's push to build new reactors during Senate hearings on pending climate legislation. The administration's Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, sang the praises of a U.S. nuclear power revival. None of this made for a pretty picture - even if it was a predictable one - as the White House bent to nuclear industry demands in its effort to get a climate bill through the Senate. (Read more in The Guardian.)
"I think nuclear power is going to be a very important factor in getting us to a low carbon future," Chu told the Senate's environment and public works committee. "Quite frankly, we want to recapture the lead on industrial nuclear power. We have lost that lead as we have lost the lead in many energy technologies and we want to get it back."
The nuclear power industry is jockeying for potentially unlimited federal loan guarantees to fund expensive new reactors. If and when the industry defaults, the American taxpayer will foot the bill.