Amendment No. 875

AMENDMENT NO. 875

    Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I rise to oppose this amendment. Nuclear power is a clean, reliable, stable, affordable, and domestic source of energy. It is an essential part of this Nation's energy mix. And if we care about energy stability and the environment, then nuclear power must play an important role in our energy future.

    I am a strong supporter of nuclear power and I want to commend Senator DOMENICI for his commitment to nuclear energy in this bill. His legislation provides incentives to enhance and expand our energy base and usher new advanced-design nuclear power technologies. It has been nearly 20 years since a new nuclear plant has been built. The safety and efficiency record of the industry over that time has been astounding. Through increased efficiency, nuclear plants have increased their clean generation of energy. The increased electricity generation from nuclear powerplants in the past 10 years was the equivalent of adding 22 new 1,000-megawatt plants in our Nation's electricity grid. But with energy demand increasing by at least 30 percent over the next 15 years, more generation will be necessary to meet our needs. As we look to the future, if we are to meet those needs, provide stability in the marketplace, and ensure clean air, then we will have to continue to expand our nuclear base load. Nuclear energy is America's only expandable large-scale source of emission-free electricity.

    The Environment & Public Works Committee—the committee of which I have the honor to serve as chairman—has jurisdiction over the Nuclear Regulatory Agency and I have been active in overseeing that agency, both as the nuclear subcommittee chairman, and now as chairman of the full committee. In 1998 I began a series of NRC oversight hearings. I did so with the goal of changing the bureaucratic atmosphere that had infected the NRC. By 1998, the NRC had become an agency of process, not results. I knew that if we were to have a robust nuclear energy sector, we needed a regulatory body that was both efficient and effective—and one in which the public could be sure that safety is the top priority. If the agency was to improve it had to employ a more results-oriented approach—one that was risk-based and science-based, not one mired in unnecessary process and paperwork. I am pleased that in the last 5 years, we have seen tremendous strides at the NRC. It has become a lean and more effective regulatory agency. I have the utmost confidence in the NRC ability to ensure that nuclear energy in this country is safe and reliable.

    We have all of the pieces in place to move to the next generation of nuclear power. If we are to meet the energy demands of the future and we are serious about reducing utility emissions, then we should get serious about the zero emissions energy production that nuclear power provides. And that means that we should not be discouraging the development of new, safe nuclear technologies. Quite the opposite, we should provide the incentives and the assurances in order to meet the energy needs of this country.

    The bill before us provides a sensible incentive for future nuclear power projects. Unfortunately, the Wyden/Sununu amendment will remove those incentives—it is a step backward—away from long-term stable and clean energy supplies.