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See report on interesting hearings in US
Congress.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 1:07 PM
Subject: Nuclear Energy’s Role: Improving U.S. Energy Security and
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Archive of Live webcast is available, along with written
statements submitted by the witnesses (including the full text of Chairman
Calvert). Go to <http://www.house.gov/science/106_hearing.htm> and hit
"page down" a few times (6 on my system) until you find July 25th,
2000.
Rhodes told me yesterday that he had fun at the hearing, he got to
present his statement (our essay in Foreign Affairs was attached to his
written testimony), he got to debate John Holdren on the proliferation risks of
spent-fuel plutonium, and he heard Maureen Koetz make a great point about
nuclear waste. She said that so far it is an outstanding example of good
stewardship, having been safely handled without serious incident for
decades. And he was home (Connecticut) in time for
supper.
Nuclear Energy’s Role:
Improving U.S. Energy Security and
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
July 25,
2000
Chairman Ken Calvert
- Witnesses:
- Joe Knollenberg (U.S. Congress, Michigan)
- James Duderstadt (NERAC Chairman, President Emeritus the University of
Michigan)
- John Holdren (PCAST member and chairman of several PCAST studies, Director
of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government’s Program on Science, Technology,
and Public Policy)
- Maureen Koetz (director of environmental policy for the Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI)).
- Richard Rhodes (author, journalist, historian, 1988 Pulitzer Prize
recipient)
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
U.S. HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Hearing
on
Nuclear Energy’s Role: Improving U.S. Energy
Security
and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Opening
Statement
Chairman Ken Calvert
July 25, 2000
Today we will hear testimony on “Nuclear
Energy’s Role: Improving U.S. Energy Security and Reducing Greenhouse Gas
Emissions.”
America’s unprecedented economic growth and prosperity
rests on an affordable supply of energy. As we look forward, the next Congress
and Administration must develop a comprehensive energy plan that securely meets
growing demand based on a diversity of sources.
snip
This Administration has not pursued a
comprehensive energy policy and has neglected two abundant energy resources in
our country—fossil and nuclear energy.
snip (another speaker
disagrees, the Clinton/Gore/Browner admin. definitely has a very strong energy
policy--make it expensive and harder to get)
However, deploying renewable energy sources and
energy efficiency measures aren’t going to be enough to meet growing energy
demand in this country.
We can all agree that reducing emissions is a good
idea—but for the foreseeable future, we will need to continue our use of
fossil fuels in this country. Therefore, we must utilize this fuel option in a
more efficient way that produces cleaner energy. I hope to pursue this in a
future hearing.
Since nuclear energy does not burn fuel—it does not
produce greenhouse gas emissions or other emissions, such as sulfur dioxide,
that pollute our air. Today, nuclear energy is our most reliable and
clean form of domestic energy—now providing 20 percent of our
electricity.
Historically, the U.S. was the world leader in commercial
nuclear energy. In its infancy, all uranium, nuclear fuel services, reactor
designs, construction and maintenance were provided only by U.S. companies.
Now, the U.S. is a minor player in the world market.
Every energy source
has risks, costs and benefits yielding a unique set of problems and
opportunities. With nuclear energy, the benefits are sullied by protracted
debate over issues such as high level waste disposal and nuclear
proliferation. For wind turbines we hear criticisms of bird kills and visual
pollution. Solar energy panels require extremely toxic and chemicals during
production. Biomass will also require huge amounts of fast-growing homogeneous
crops that will endanger the biodiversity on large swaths of land.
Hydroelectric dams submerge large areas of land and kill fish. Fossil energy
produces greenhouse gases—and so it goes. The challenge we face in formulating
a comprehensive energy policy is how to balance the costs and benefits in a
way that minimizes environmental impacts yet provides the energy we need to
economically prosper.
I look forward to hearing testimony from our expert
panel on these issues on nuclear energy’s role to achieve energy security and
reduce emissions.
Today we will hear testimony from Representative Joe
Knollenberg of the 11th Congressional District
of Michigan and four public witnesses: (1) Dr. John P. Holdren of Harvard
University, Chair of the Panel on International Cooperation in Energy
Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment of the President’s
Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST); (2) Dr. James
Duderstadt of Michigan State University, Chair of the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee; (3) Mr. Richard Rhodes,
an author and historian who won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction for The
Making of the Atomic Bomb and the co-author of an article in the
January/February 2000 issue of Foreign Affairs titled “The Need for Nuclear
Power”; and (4) Ms. Maureen Koetz, Director of Environmental Policy at the
Nuclear Energy Institute.
Archive of Live webcast is available,
along with written statements submitted by the witnesses (including the full
text of Chairman Calvert): <http://www.house.gov/science/106_hearing.htm> hit "page
down" a few times (6 on my system)
=========================================
Dr. Denis E. Beller
Systems Engineering and Integration Group
Technology and Safety Assessment Division
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e-mail: beller@lanl.gov
phone: (505) 667-1357
fax: (505) 665-5283
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Mailing Address:
TSA-3, MS
F607
Los Alamos
National
Laboratory Los
Alamos, NM 87545
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