Barbara Vergetis Lundin reports that nuclear has all the attributes energy should have, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told industry leaders at the NEI annual conference yesterday. Murkowski is considering various energy sources as she prepares to draft new comprehensive energy legislation, convening the second of four committee hearings on key sections of the prospective energy legislation today.
She concluded that energy should be abundant, affordable, clean, diverse and secure. And she believes that the future of the nuclear industry is bright because it checks all of those boxes. Nuclear fits right in, Murkowski said at the conference, noting that nuclear energy facilities operating in 30 states produce 19 per cent of total U.S. electric supplies, and provide 63 per cent of the electricity generated by carbon-free sources.
Since 2007, when Congress last enacted comprehensive energy legislation, the national energy landscape has changed significantly. New energy legislation will address challenges that are threatening the economic viability of some nuclear energy facilities.
Murkowski also called for reform of the federal government nuclear waste management program - noting that she is championing the Nuclear Waste Administration Act along with Senators Lamar Alexander, Maria Cantwell and Dianne Feinstein - and emphasized her support for new forms of nuclear energy.
She has long supported and advocated for the development and employment of small modular reactors, with generating capacities of 300 megawatts (MW) or less, she said. Pointing to the Alaska high energy costs and heavy dependence on fossils fuels, Murkowski said the use of small reactors (SMRs) in her state could be a game changer for remote communities that are not attached to an electrical grid.
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