Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss the progress we are making toward restoring nuclear power as a vibrant and realistic option to meet this Nation’s future energy needs. Building on industry’s success with the efficient and safe operation of current nuclear power plants, the Bush Administration is looking to both pave the way for deployment of new plants in the next few years and point the way toward a new generation of nuclear energy for the future.

First, Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for this Committee’s leadership. Even before President Bush took office in 2001, you, Senator Craig, Senator Bingaman and others were working on the issues facing nuclear energy in this country--often during a period when some analysts were predicting the end of nuclear energy in the United States. This committee’s efforts provided a solid programmatic and policy foundation that has made the progress we are seeing today possible. While, as we all know, there is still much to be done, I believe that it is important to recognize the success that we have seen in the nuclear field over the last few years.

It is important to recall that during the last decade, things looked very bleak for nuclear power in the United States. The door seemed to close on the future of nuclear power early in the decade as the Shoreham nuclear power plant on Long Island, New York was finally closed in February 1992 after a long, contentious fight. That event showed that even a completed plant in which $5.5 billion had been invested, which had been licensed to operate by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which had a virtual twin that had been operating in Connecticut for two decades even this plant could fail to reach commercial operation.