Nuclear answer to U.S. energy needs

A substantial increase in nuclear power will be a key element of solving energy needs in the United States, said former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham — echoing remarks by his former boss, President George Bush. He told an Investment Dealers’ Association of Canada conference in Banff June 28 that “nuclear is the centerpiece.”

Bush recently listed nuclear power as the one energy source that is “completely domestic, plentiful in quantity, environmentally friendly and able to generate massive amounts of electricity.”

The U.S. Senate’s energy bill has also acknowledged that potential by including nuclear power among the sources that should qualify for billions of dollars in tax incentives. Abraham said that nuclear power should be a “significant component” of the U.S. drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the growth of energy imports.

He warned that today’s tight energy markets are “likely to continue well into the future” and consumers should grow accustomed to oil at US$60 per barrel.

He said the challenges include almost no spare oil production capacity in the world; an “almost infinite” increase in demand over the next 20 to 30 years; self-imposed constraints on supply on many regions; uncertainties and fear factors.

Abraham said that unless nuclear plants are built over the next 20 years, nuclear-generated power will drop from 21 percent of U.S. supply to 14 percent and even lower as aged facilities are decommissioned.

To let that happen would result in even greater dependence on other energy sources, whose origin is unclear, he said.

—Gary Park