The Next Generation of Nuclear Power
THE NEXT GENERATION OF NUCLEAR POWER
HEARING before the SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND RESOURCES
of the COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
Mr. Issa. Good afternoon. Jointly, Congresswoman Watson and
I would like to apologize for the entire Congress and
particularly our voting schedule. We were notified that we
would be voting so we went over only to discover that they
voiced it. So we should be uninterrupted going forward.
I am very excited today that we are going to be talking
about next generation nuclear power. Although, with the
distinguished panel we have here today, hopefully we will even
go beyond that and veer openly toward a lot of areas of the
hydrogen society, fusion, and other areas of sustainable
energy.
As we all know, nuclear energy is the subject of renewed
interest by the President, and Congress. Of course with it
comes concerns over security of energy supplies, fossil fuel
prices, the volatility of oil today, air quality, and our
ability to reach our national goals of developing a hydrogen
economy.
At present, there are 103 licensed reactors still operating
in 31 States. In 2004, nuclear generators produced a record 824
billion kilowatt hours of electricity, accounting for
approximately 20 percent of the Nation's electricity.
Anecdotally, we have been at about 20 percent of the Nation's
electricity coming from nuclear energy for a number of years.
So these increases in reliability have kept pace with our need
for power.
For more than four decades, the U.S. nuclear industry has
focused on improving existing reactor technology. America's
nuclear power plants have an excellent safety record and are
among the most efficient and reliable in the world. However,
there are obvious limits to continued expansion of existing
capacity. In the 21st century our Nation needs more safe,
clean, reliable electricity. The Department of Energy is
currently engaged in an effort to advance research and
development of next generation nuclear systems capable of
meeting this challenge.
The Generation IV program seeks to develop a much more
advanced generation of nuclear energy reactors to commercial
development by 2030. These reactors will have a dramatic
improvement in the areas of cost, safety, reliability and
sustainability. The Department of Energy is supporting research
in several reactor concepts, but priority has been placed on
the Very High Temperature Reactor. This technology is the
favored design in the United States due to its potential for
competitive cost use in secondary industrial activities such as
hydrogen production and desalinization. This reactor design
could also burn uranium, plutonium and other waste products
reprocessed from spent nuclear fuel or stockpiled warheads.
In 2004, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham launched the
Next Generation Nuclear Plant project to develop an advanced
nuclear energy system to produce both inexpensive electric
power and large quantities of cost-effective hydrogen that
could be used as an alternative to fossil fuels. The Department
of Energy has designated the Idaho National Laboratory to be
the focal point for advanced reactor and fuel cycle
development.
The NGNP is a key component of America's energy future and
the Federal Government must take a leadership role to ensure
that a Generation IV reactor is built in the United States. The
construction of a Generation IV reactor will ensure that the
United States regains its position as a world leader in nuclear
energy technology. Other nations are moving forward on
Generation IV technologies, and if we do nothing, we will miss
a unique opportunity.
The purpose of this hearing is to evaluate the progress of
the Department of Energy's Nuclear Generation IV program. We
also want to get a better overall sense of the administration's
commitment to move forward with the Next Generation Nuclear
Plant project.
We look forward to hearing from our distinguished panel.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_house_hearings&docid=23408.wais