Introduction
Good morning. I’m pleased to be here today, and to have the opportunity to welcome you, as we work together to address our concerns regarding the front end of the fuel cycle in the nuclear industry.

It was a great honor to serve more than 38 years in the U.S. Navy, and especially for the last eight years as Admiral Hyman Rickover’s third successor as director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion.

In many ways I consider my new position a natural continuation of my service in the U.S. Navy, because of my very strong belief that energy security is an essential element of national security.

I’ve watched very closely the industry’s achievements in recent years, and I am extremely impressed by what I’ve seen.

I’m also encouraged by the strong leadership we’ve seen here in Washington—most recently from President Bush himself and from Secretary Abraham and the president’s nominee to replace him, Sam Bodman.

In testimony before Congress, in speeches and in interviews with the media just this month, the administration has clearly expressed its strong support for the vital role of nuclear energy in America’s diverse electricity supply portfolio.

And when the president goes to Congress, he’ll find many valuable allies who have done much to support nuclear energy’s role in America’s economic and national security.

The fact of the matter is, our industry is poised for growth, and the conditions needed are falling into place right now.

The industry has made important progress in the past decade in terms of every performance measure in safety, reliability and efficiency.

This long-term performance trend has helped create strong support for nuclear energy among policymakers and the public.

And it has laid the foundation for renewing the licenses of our current reactor fleet, and also to begin construction on new reactors.

The Rising Price of Uranium
But if we’re going to create an energy future for the United States that is less dependent on fossil fuels and foreign sources of oil and liquefied natural gas, we need to ensure that America and this industry can count on a stable and predictable nuclear fuel supply—at fair and predictable prices.

We also need stable, predictable regulations in the fuel supply world, just as we need stability in NRC oversight of generation.

Two companies have applied for licenses for new enrichment facilities…Good!

But their success depends, in part, on efficient regulatory processes for licensing these facilities.

We need to demonstrate that we can license new enrichment technology in the United States.

We need to ensure that government policies and trade restrictions don’t discourage investment or hamper supply reliability.

And we need to be prepared to weather contingencies, should disruptions in supply occur.

Today, we are dependent on Russia for more than 55 percent of our enrichment services and 30 percent of our uranium and conversion.

We cannot overlook and, in fact, we need to advertise more widely, the continued non-proliferation and national security benefit from this program, given that the “Megatons to Megawatts” has destroyed 9,000 Russian warheads and counting.

We need to secure a predictable future for handling Russian highly enriched uranium.

We need to ensure a long-term view such that fuel cycle companies can pursue the needed large capital investments in mine exploration and new mine construction.

With fair, predictable pricing, we can develop new, reliable sources of supply.

Conclusion
The Department of Energy forecasts that America will need approximately 45 percent more electricity during the next 20 years.

Our country faces a critical need for investment in energy infrastructure, including advanced nuclear and coal-fired power plants that represent the backbone of the U.S. electricity supply system.

Since Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the United States has built approximately 271,000 megawatts of new gas-fired generating capacity.

By contrast, we’ve added some 4,300 megawatts of new nuclear capacity and 9,500 megawatts of new coal-fired capacity.

We need a better balance—we need diversity in our energy supply. And we need to work together to tackle this challenging situation.

We can take important steps toward that solution today by addressing the critical questions in the area of fuel supply. As you meet here over the next few days, I would ask you to keep these larger objectives in mind.

As I said earlier, energy security is an essential element of national security. So when you work to ensure stability and predictability in fuel supply, you also contribute to stability and predictability in national security.

In uncertain times, that’s a worthy goal for all of us, and one of the reasons why I chose to continue my career at NEI.

I look forward to working with you all in these endeavors in the months and years to come.

Thank you.