News & Events

I appreciate the chance to speak with all of you about some very important initiatives at my Department that will affect the nuclear power industry and America's energy security.

With us here today are leaders in government, industry, and research, representing countries all over the world. It's an honor to be here.

When the President unveiled our National Energy Plan last May, he spoke of the need to establish an energy policy that was balanced, comprehensive, and far-sighted. As a part of this policy, he said we must consider an expanded role for nuclear energy in the United States.

I spoke to the President this week on a variety of issues and I can tell you he remains totally committed to his Energy Plan and to the role nuclear power can play in our energy future.

I think we owe him a great deal of thanks. His leadership has been essential to help clear away the old thinking about nuclear energy. That old thinking represents a view of nuclear energy frozen in time since 1979, when the public image of nuclear power was dominated by Three Mile Island. This old view condemns nuclear power as too expensive, too risky, and too unreliable.

But, more recent history points to a brighter, more promising view.

Nuclear power has made an amazing comeback in this country. Just ten years ago a nuclear plant was lucky to run at 70 percent capacity. Today, the average plant runs at 90 percent capacity. This increased capacity translates into an additional 23,000 megawatts of power on the grid ... the same as building 23 new plants.