Nuclear continues to be part of Obama’s plan

While many will be talking about President Obama’s plan to make cuts in many government programs in his $3.7 trillion budget proposal, the nuclear power industry will be talking about how the President plans to boost the use of nuclear energy in the States. During his Jan. 25 State of the Union address, Obama issued a new challenge. That challenge is by 2035, 80 percent of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources.

“Some folks want wind and solar. Other wants nuclear and clean coal and natural gas. To meet this we will need them all,” he said.

The release of his fiscal year 2012 budget proposal shows his continued support of nuclear energy being apart of his clean energy standard. Obama’s budget, which requires approval by Congress, calls for an additional $36 billion in government-supported loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors in the U.S. The $36 billion is on top of the $18 billion that the Department of Energy already possesses. In Feb., Obama awarded the first loan guarantee for a nuclear plant. The award of $8.3 billion for two additional reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia is conditional until the plant receives the combined construction and operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is expected sometime this year. So that leaves about $10 billion remaining of guaranteed money, enough for only one project, unless Congress approves the new budget allowing for more money to be allocated to build new, clean-energy-producing nuclear reactors. And if approved, the loan guarantees could possibly help with the construction of new reactors and help meet the total of four to eight plants online by the 2016-2020 timeframe as the Nuclear Energy Institute projects.

Also listed in the FY2012 budget proposal, the President has asked for $853 million for nuclear energy research, which includes small modular reactors. Globally, the International Atomic Energy Agency projects up to 97 small modular reactors to be built by 2030. The U.S. nuclear industry wants to keep pace with other countries that are developing advanced reactors, such as India and Japan, and continued research is needed in order to do that.

So now the industry must wait to see what Congress thinks of Obama’s proposal. And although the budget provides $29.5 billion total to the Department of Energy, a 12 percent increase since 2010, it is clear that the President believes nuclear power will have to play a role in the United States’ future plans for power generation.