The White House today is holding what a key energy researcher called a coming out party for nuclear energy in an event that will be broadcast live on the Internet at WhiteHouse.gov and on YouTube.
The streaming is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
“What's important about this White House meeting is that in a sense it's a coming out meeting,” said Eileen Claussen, founder of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Claussen said the Barack Obama administration was “making it clear” that nuclear power was a critical component in the confrontation with climate change. Claussen said the administration recognizes that “new nuclear technologies will be energy sources for the future.”
In a statement, Marvin Fertel, president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said the White House event “reflects recognition of the indisputable – and larger – role that nuclear energy must play in any successful effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
On the political front, two major policies are on the line, including the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan and a global response to climate change that will be the focus of an international meeting in Paris in a few weeks.
Domestically, there is no question that nuclear power advocates feel affronted by the Clean Power Plan that ignores the contribution of existing nuclear power plants. This glaring omission in the plan would be bearable, perhaps, if existing plants were holding their own financially, but operators of four plants have recently announced premature plant closings due poor financial performances due to low natural gas prices, high operating costs and stagnant demand for electricity.
"Globally, nuclear energy generates 33 percent of the electricity supplied by zero-carbon sources. In the United States, nuclear energy is by far the largest source of zero-carbon power, generating 63 percent of the electricity from emission-free sources,” said Fertel.
“If the United States is to substantially reduce carbon emissions, we cannot afford to prematurely close any more nuclear power plants because of flawed electricity markets. At the same time, new reactor construction—including development of small modular reactors and other advanced reactor technologies—should be pursued vigorously,” he said.
