Obama Does Good! He Might Actually Be Serious About Nuclear Power Plants

You may remember Obama mentioning nuclear power plants during his snoozefest of a SOTU speech. For a change, he might actually be looking to get new ones built, so, if the following is true, kudos, Mr. President! Obama moves quickly to promote nuclear power

President Obama, who called for a “new generation” of nuclear power plants in his State of the Union address Wednesday, is quickly moving forward. He created a panel Friday to recommend ways to dispose of used nuclear fuel and is expected Monday to propose tripling loan guarantees for new plant construction.

One of the numerous sticky points is where to put the waste, instead of storing it on site. This is something that was supposed to be solved, and in operation, per a federal law, in the early 1990’s. Yucca Mountain was the spot chosen, and, it is still not open (maybe once Dingy Harry loses his re-election bid, we will get movement.) I won’t bore you with technical details (I did a paper on this back in 1991 in grad school, and all the sources agreed it was the best site,) but, it is the optimum site. Well, optimum would be shooting it into space or the Sun, or, perhaps Washington, D.C., which would keep the Congress Critters away.

His call for new nuclear power plants has angered some environmentalists and Democratic supporters, as noted in a prior post, but welcomed by nuclear industry lobbyists, including former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman, now co-chair of the CASEnergy Coalition.

That is the second problem: even if they get money and approval to build them, the wacko environmentalists will sue unceasingly in order to stop the construction. If they manage to be constructed, they will sue to stop them from going live.

Currently, 104 commercial nuclear power plants provide 20% of U.S. electricity, according to the Department of Energy. They produce no carbon emissions, but their operation and used nuclear fuel raise safety questions.

You’d think the climate alarmists would love them. They do in countries like France, which gets over 80% of their power from nuclear plants, including Generation 4 ones. Unfortunately, a good chunk of climate alarmists are knee jerk envirowackos, who know little about nuclear power beyond that they just don’t like it, the way a kid hates broccoli without ever tasting it.

Several news reports, including one by Bloomberg, cite administration officials saying Obama will ask Congress in his 2011 budget — to be unveiled Monday — for $54 billion in loan guarantees to build new nuclear plants, up from the $18.5 billion now available.

Do we dare to believe? Is this another empty promise from Obama? Will he include the request in the budget as a ploy to woo some Republicans in Congress, as well as many Conservatives? Only time will tell. He has stated that he is for nuclear, along with a mix of solar, wind, and geothermal. He says he favors nuclear, so, talking point, or reality? He is against Yucca Mountain, so, where does the waste go? If we build Gen 4 plants, it won’t be that much of an issue.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove

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