Frank L. "Skip" Bowman
President and CEO, Nuclear Energy Institute

“The Changing Climate for Nuclear Energy”
Nuclear Energy Assembly

Miami, Florida
May 24, 2007

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning again.

Before I begin, let me thank John Rowe for the keen insights expressed in his “state of the industry” remarks. We are fortunate that John will serve as chairman of NEI’s Board of Directors. We will all benefit from the intellectual rigor and business discipline that John brings to all things, as we work together to guide the U.S. nuclear power industry through a time of great opportunity seasoned with some formidable challenges.

We all recognize that the need for nuclear energy is driven by our nation’s massive requirement for electricity, which cannot possibly be met by energy efficiency, demand-side management and renewables by themselves. To be sure, we must have greater efficiency, more demand-side management and more renewables, but we must also have high-tech coal and nuclear generating capacity to drive our $11 trillion-a-year economy. And over the last couple of years, we’re seeing increased attention to nuclear energy as part of the solution, driven by concerns about climate change.

So our theme for this year’s Nuclear Energy Assembly is “the changing climate for nuclear energy.” The theme has at least two dimensions.

First, the phrase “changing climate” obviously reflects the growing concern about the scientific phenomenon of climate change, global warming and growing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

And second, the changing climate for nuclear energy reflects the new policy climate in which we are operating—with growing numbers of our political leaders, policymakers and the public coming to recognize the strategic value of this energy source.

I want to spend my time this morning discussing both issues.