Webb’s Correct on Nuclear Power’s Role

In his 18 months or so representing Virginia in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Jim Webb developed a reputation right from the start as a political bull in a china shop.

Thankfully, the Old Dominion’s junior senator decided to channel some of his gruff pugnaciousness into fighting for better benefits for America’s soldiers. The recently passed GI bill which Webb drew up and shepherded through Congress would be a career-capper for any legislator, much less for a newly minted senator.

The next initiative Webb has on his desk will make the enactment of the GI bill seem like child’s play: Making the nation see the light on the role nuclear power must play in America’s economy.

The senator was in Lynchburg on Thursday, touring Areva, taking part in a power summit at Central Virginia Community College and getting briefings on the latest developments in the nuclear industry.

The demand for electricity is growing around the world at the same time as prices for the fuel that produces electricity are skyrocketing. Just look at your recent bill from Appalachian Power Co. for the proof. Concern over climate change (whether man-made or naturally cyclical) has raised political pressure for so-called “green” power, as opposed to “dirty” power from sources such as coal and other fossil fuels.

Many people in the environmental community are rabidly opposed to any role for nuclear power; just read the first letter in The Forum today from a representative of Environment Virginia. They have their minds closed and their heads stuck in the sand when it comes to the energy challenges the United States and the world face. They foolishly believe that energy independence can be gained solely by conservation, bio-fuels, “green” alternative energy and the government’s forcing social changes upon individuals.

Well, they’re wrong, and Jim Webb just might be the man to roll over their objections.

The American nuclear industry has been at a standstill for much of the last 30 years in the wake of Three Mile Island, with one of the biggest hurdles being the quandary of where to store spent nuclear fuel. Currently, used fuel is stored on-site at each of the nation’s 100 or so nuclear power plants. Congress has officially designated Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the sole repository for spent fuel, but that state’s congressional delegation, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the environmental community have fought any attempt to open the facility.

Webb, like most Democrats in Congress, is loathe to buck the majority leader on Yucca Mountain, but he just may have latched onto an answer to the question of what to do with nuclear waste: Recycle it into new fuel.

Engineers with Areva and B&W, right here in Lynchburg, are already experts at reprocessing old nuclear weapons into fuel for power plants. They told Webb last week that it’s not that big of a technological leap to reprocess virtually all of the nation’s spent nuclear waste. In an interview with The News & Advance, Webb said he was intrigued by the possibilities and intends to have his staff bring him up to speed on what it would take to make it a reality.

The fight Webb is about to embark on is one that’s fraught with political peril. The anti-nuclear crowd is seasoned and tough, and they take no prisoners.

The energy crisis America faces is not one that can be overcome just by the nice, touchy-feely solutions so many in the environmental community are in love with.

Nuclear power must play a preeminent role in this nation, and Jim Webb just might be the leader who makes it a reality.