NRC chair says politics won't slow nuclear

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 The top U.S. nuclear regulator said though Congress has changed hands it likely won't stunt the growth in nuclear power which he's been planning for.

Dale Klein, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said he expects more than 30 new applications for new nuclear reactors in the United States, along with applications for license renewals and power uprates.

The political landscape obviously has changed, Klein said at the Nuclear Energy Opportunities for Growth and Investment in North America summit in Washington Thursday, organized by the global energy information company Platts. I now visit different heads of committees.In terms of how we are moving as a nation, we have some challenges that our elected officials have to deal with, Klein said of the threat of climate change, adding it was politically real if not technically real.He expects legislation to curb emissions that lead to climate change, which come from nuclear's competitors of coal and crude oil.

Then the issue is what role does nuclear play in that? he said. If you get rid of a lot of the emotions and look at what source of likely generation is there ... you are choices get limited real quick, Klein said. Renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower are touted by environmentalists as an emissions-free source. But those sources either lack the technology or geographic capacity to make them commercially viable.

This is where nuclear power comes in, Klein said. He said the NRC will be a hard but fair regulator.

Copyright 2007 by UPI

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