Good Morning. It is a pleasure to be here today.

You’ve heard our vision for the future and the rich opportunities that we have before us. You’ve also heard about how we can craft our message and what it will take to succeed on the Hill.

Now I’m going to talk about the issues. The initiatives we need to pursue here in Washington to ensure a strong future for nuclear energy.

But, first I want to tell you a story.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Rod Hundley once roomed with Elgin Baylor, one of the greatest scorers in the history of the NBA. One night in New York, Baylor set a team record, scoring 71 points in a single game. As they got into a cab to ride back to their hotel, Hundley put an arm around his teammate and said: “What a night we had, buddy!  Seventy-three points between us!”

Hot Rod Hundley was known for his jokes. But he had a point. Basketball’s a team game. Everybody helps. Baylor couldn’t score one point by himself.

And neither can we in the fight over national energy policy. As individual companies, affecting national energy policy would be difficult indeed. But together we are a force.

And as others have explained, now is the time to act.

Indeed, we all are members of the same team. Yet our efforts mean little individually. Nor can one player carry the industry on its back.

Focused around well-defined objectives, we can rightly expect a very different outcome. What are these objectives?

• Our first priority is the passage of comprehensive energy legislation that includes certain nuclear energy-related provisions.  Chief among these is Price-Anderson Act reauthorization and support for new nuclear power plants.
• Second, we must push for continued progress at Yucca Mountain.
• And third, we need to work for regulatory stability that will place greater emphasis on safety, provide more discipline to NRC licensing reviews and help improve the financial underpinnings for new plant efforts.

We have an excellent opportunity in the months ahead to achieve these policy goals.

November’s elections brought new faces to Washington. Many believe that the results bode well for the industry. President Bush has proven a strong proponent of nuclear energy—his re-election, and the political capital that came with it, is a good sign.

Earlier this month, I applauded when the president called for an energy bill with support for nuclear energy and told Congress, “Four years of debate is enough!” And he’s right. But he will be challenged every step of the way during his second term and, on nuclear matters, the industry must help the administration meet these challenges head-on.

Samuel Bodman, the new energy secretary, said during his confirmation hearings that he supports comprehensive energy legislation and Yucca Mountain. Many new members in the House and Senate support nuclear energy, and the slight shift in the balance of certain key committees may be the difference in the passage of critical legislation.

Ten years ago, few would have believed the vibrancy of the nuclear sector today. But we have proved our critics wrong. We have consistently made our plants safer, more secure and more economical to operate, and we continue to do so. We have steadily increased output. We have worked with federal agencies to establish a more stable regulatory environment. And we have begun to lay the groundwork for new nuclear plants.

We have come a long way over the past decade. This year, we have an opportunity that seldom presents itself—to take major steps forward on our most vital policy issues.

Let’s review our objectives, one by one:

Comprehensive Energy Legislation
When the new Congress convened in January, we pushed to put a comprehensive energy bill at the top of the agenda. We have had some preliminary conversations, but as we have seen again and again, this legislation will be harder to complete than to postpone.

The conference report energy policy legislation passed in the House in 2003, but stalled in the Senate. H.R. 6 contains policies that are critical for new plants.

These policies include:

• support for construction of new baseload power generation, including nuclear plants
• production tax credits and investment incentives for nuclear plants
• government-industry cost sharing of first-of-a-kind engineering for new plants.

Those of you who do not have an immediate interest in building new nuclear plants do have an interest in putting in place the conditions needed to pursue new plant construction.

Without the promise of new plants, the viability of nuclear power remains a question in the public mind. As a result, the industry could find it more difficult to recruit and retain staff or re-license existing reactors. Let’s remove the question!

An energy bill should also contain funding for nuclear energy research. The more efficient and less expensive power plants of tomorrow depend on the research and development taking place today. Support for the Nuclear Power 2010 program, Nuclear Energy Research Initiative, international Generation IV initiative and Reactor Hydrogen Production program are critical in this pursuit.

New plant construction also depends on the extension of the Price-Anderson Act. H.R. 6 called for an indefinite extension of Price-Anderson—legislation considered by this Congress should do the same.

Yucca Mountain
We must also continue to drive progress toward managing used nuclear fuel, including building a repository at Yucca Mountain. We have made significant progress in helping move Yucca Mountain ahead. Now, Congress must fully fund the program and keep it on track.

One major challenge involves the way that Yucca Mountain is funded. Although the Nuclear Waste Fund was created to fund disposal of our nation’s commercial used nuclear fuel and is paid for by consumers, congressional budgetary rules have restricted access to this money. Today, the balance in the fund is more than $15 billion. The Yucca Mountain program is expected to receive about $577 million for this fiscal year, the same as last year. Most predicted that more than $700 million was necessary to keep the program on track.

The court decision on the EPA radiation standard also has affected the Yucca Mountain program. We will work to resolve the situation. But the verdict is grounds for discussion, not delay. We’ll move to accommodate it. Meanwhile, the project should and will move forward.

The Energy Department has said that it plans to submit a license application for Yucca Mountain later this year. We expect that DOE will complete a quality construction application and submit it to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Yucca Mountain program will move ahead. We’ll reshape it. But we must stand firm against those who would reject it.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issues
Ensuring the competitiveness of the industry, creating the conditions for new plant projects and moving forward with Yucca Mountain also require fair and predictable regulatory processes. Even with government guarantees, arranging financing for a new plant would be all but impossible if the financial community believes that significant regulatory change could derail a sound project. This affects operating reactors as well. The perception that regulations could suddenly change discourages potential investors, and could negatively impact the asset value of nuclear facilities.

As you know, we have two new NRC commissioners—Greg Jaczko and Pete Lyons, who will likely appear before Congress this year. It is important that the industry remains engaged in the regulatory oversight process. We must continue to build on our success over the past decade in helping bring safety-focused regulations to NRC reactor oversight. By applying these same principles, we can achieve a fair and predictable licensing process for new plants and the repository at Yucca Mountain.

In this pursuit, the industry should ensure that federal agencies prevent the abuse of the legal system in the completion and startup of new facilities. We also must work to ensure regulatory stability in other areas such as security. Security costs remain a concern for nuclear plant operators. The industry has spent an additional $1.2 billion to upgrade plant security since 2001. We have collectively increased the number of security officers by 60 percent to more than 8,000 and added robust physical security measures. And every plant met the deadline last October for implementing the NRC’s security orders. These included security upgrades for plants that will help defend against a potential terrorist, and in many instances, the industry already had taken many of the NRC-mandated activities.

Conclusion
As utility executives with different types of power plants and different markets, you have a full agenda for the coming year. I know I do. However, as others have pointed out, the opportunities for nuclear energy are better than ever. Much of that opportunity is because of your excellent work. The ongoing improvement in plant efficiency and rising capacity utilization is proof of an industry that is doing things right.

Over the past decade, we have taken enormous strides. We had record production again in 2004 and a 90 percent capacity factor.  Nuclear energy’s contribution to clean air has gained more importance as we weigh alternatives for reducing emissions and greenhouse gases. Many are coming to see expanded use of nuclear power as critical to meeting increasing electricity demands and enhancing energy security while protecting our environment.

And public support for nuclear energy is strong.

We have the possibility to accomplish great things over the coming year. But to be successful we need the active support of every company represented in this room. We need you to put in place energy policies that keep America secure and our economy strong. We need you to keep our commitment to the environment, whether keeping our air and water clean, or keeping the ozone intact. We need you to talk to politicians, talk to community leaders, talk to your neighbors about why nuclear energy needs to remain a vibrant part of our energy supply.

Because if we all do our job, then politicians will do their job: create regulatory stability, keep Yucca Mountain on track and pass a comprehensive energy bill.

In a few minutes, we will have an opportunity to discuss some specific strategies. First, we will talk within our company groups about the initiatives that we’ve laid out this morning. We have distributed some worksheets that will help you in this process, and I’ll be right here working with my company’s representatives.

We should take this time to talk about strategies and implementation. And then, we will come together to report on what our respective company priorities are, and the resources we can bring to bear to meet these policy goals.

When we are done here today, we will each know what to do. And we will have committed to a set of goals and specific company objectives to guide us as we pursue this important work.

So let’s get started…