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US: Republicans want to be sure that Chu is pro-nuclear

Chu Quizzed Mostly on Nuclear Issues During Hearing for Energy Post

By Kent Garber

US News January 13, 2009

One could be forgiven for thinking that Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to head the Department of Energy, was being evaluated for a somewhat different role—that of, say, chief nuclear officer—during his Senate confirmation hearing this morning.

Though Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, received questions on a variety of energy-related topics, his examiners on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee seemed to be most interested in talking about nuclear policy.

In particular, Chu was pressed about his positions on building new nuclear plants, recycling nuclear waste, and supporting increased spending—to the tune of tens of billions of dollars—on incentives for the industry and for expediting nuclear-related programs that have gotten bogged down in Washington or have gone unfunded in recent years………………………..

To a question from Sessions about Chu’s commitment to jump-starting the construction of new nuclear power plants, Chu said, “Yes, I am.”

He also expressed support for accelerating a so far poorly executed $18.5 billion government loan program designed to help finance the first batch of new power plants and vowed to move quickly to create a long-term plan for safely disposing of nuclear waste. “We have to do it concurrently with the start-up of the industry,” Chu said, attempting to allay concerns that the Obama administration might try to stall the industry until the waste problem is adequately resolved………………………….

……..As part of that plan for nuclear waste, Chu said he is open to reprocessing—reusing spent nuclear fuel in a reactor

Chu Quizzed Mostly on Nuclear Issues During Hearing for Energy Post – US News and World Report

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

January 14, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics