Spencer Abraham confirmed by Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
During the hearing to confirm Secretary of Energy nominee, Spencer Abraham, Senate Energy committee members repeatedly stressed the importance of a U.S. energy policy that pursued nuclear energy. The recommendation for confirmation of Abraham will go to the Senate for vote when it reconvenes. The ANS Government Affairs Office prepared a report on the hearings.
Memorandum
To: ANS
From: ANS Washington Office
Date: January 18, 2000
Re: Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Confirmation Hearing of Spencer Abraham and Comments Regarding Nuclear Energy
This memo is to report on the confirmation hearing of former Senator Spencer Abraham to head the Department of Energy and to specifically address statements regarding nuclear energy.
Both committee leaders -- Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) -- stated that nuclear energy is a priority for the committee, particularly with respect to the Yucca Mountain repository and federal control of high-level nuclear waste.
Sen. Bingaman said the federal government is three years behind schedule in taking hold of the nuclear waste. Sen. Murkowski made a similar assessment, noting that one-fifth of the United States' energy supply is derived from nuclear power, but "the waste problem is a reality we have to face up to... [O]ur decisions [regarding the repository] have to be made on sound science."
Sen. Murkowski stated the Energy and Natural Resources Committee has spent a great deal of time on the Yucca Mountain issue, relative to its legal obligation. The federal government was to take ownership of the waste in 1998; $11 billion of the ratepayers' monies have gone into the U.S. general fund, but there's been a significant lack of federal action. "This has to be one your highest priorities," he said to Mr. Abraham. "No one wants this waste," Murkowski noted, but the realization is that litigation has cost taxpayers $40 - $60 billion. The repository matter has been put off due to political expediency with little regard for American taxpayers.
Mr. Abraham stated his sympathies given his relationship to Michigan's nuclear-related plants and utilities. Mr. Abraham said he is committed to "moving the process forward" (e.g., site determination, veto procedures and so forth). We should move ahead in a "timely way" that is rooted in science. Overall, Mr. Abraham did not express strong views on the topic of nuclear energy but appeared to back the assessments of the committee leadership.
Sen. Murkowski made the broader point that while the U.S. is becoming increasingly reliant on foreign sources of oil (62 percent dependent by 2004) and natural gas, the U.S. has not put a policy in place that rectifies this foreign dependency -- or addresses the soaring domestic demand -- for energy. Sen. Murkowski and Sen. Bingaman made the point, perhaps implicitly, that greater attention needs to be paid to the value of nuclear power.
Similarly, Senators Bob Graham (D-FL), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), and Craig Thomas (R-WY) agreed that nuclear power is not getting the attention it deserves vis-a-vis other sources of energy.
Sen. Graham made a point of mentioning the last nuclear facility built in the U.S. was in the seventies. The nation's long-range energy plans must take nuclear power into account. Some facilities "may not be able to continue functioning or need to be re-authorized." But "how we keep them going, given our long-range energy goals, is something [the committee and the Energy Department nominee] need to look at."
Sen. Thomas argued flatly that the U.S. cannot move ahead with nuclear energy as an alternative and/or supplemental fuel source until the high-level waste matter is resolved.
Finally, at the end of the nomination hearing Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) strongly encouraged Mr. Abraham to pursue the nuclear option. "This committee and the Energy Department need to start looking at the next generation of nuclear power," Sen. Domenici said. It has served our navy well since the fifties, for example, and France derives almost 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. "Some say don't touch it... I say touch it!" Mr. Abraham did not offer a reply.
None of the hearing participants stated opposition to nuclear energy.
Mr. Abraham was approved today by the full committee (voice vote) and will be voted on the Senate floor when that body reconvenes.
