Nuclear energy still has an important role to play in the United States’ energy portfolio, according to US Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
The news will go some way to reassuring uranium miners and energy corporations that the US is not about to do a U-turn on nuclear energy, but Chu, perhaps understandably, was rather cautious in his endorsement.
“The Administration believes we must rely on a diverse set of energy sources including renewables like wind and solar, natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power,” he said, addressing a House subcommittee on energy and water development yesterday.
“Information is still coming in about the events unfolding in Japan,” he added, “but the Administration is committed to learning from Japan's experience as we work to continue to strengthen America's nuclear industry.”
Chu said that officials from the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other agencies have been in close contact with Japanese officials and have provided the Japanese government with expertise in a variety of areas.
“As part of that effort,” he said, “the Department of Energy has sent two experts to Japan to provide advice and technical assistance. One is an emergency response representative deployed as part of the US Agency for International Development Disaster Assistance Response Team, and the other is a nuclear engineer with Japanese language skills.”
The US has also sent out its Aerial Measuring System capability, including detectors and analytical equipment used to provide assessments of contamination on the ground.
The Japanese crisis comes at a time when the US has been gradually rebuilding its confidence in nuclear power.
There have been no nuclear reactors commissioned in the US since the Three Mile Island incident in Pennsylvania in 1979. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now considering 20 applications, however, and the Obama administration has proposed billions of dollars to support the industry.
Around 50 nuclear power plants are under construction worldwide, 25 of them in China, Chu said.
