Need for Strong Nuclear Power Role in the United States

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Tuesday September 15, 5:56 pm Eastern Time

Company Press Release

SOURCE: Nuclear Energy Institute

Nuclear Energy Institute Hails New International
Report That Cites Need for Strong Nuclear Power
Role in the United States

HOUSTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nuclear Energy Institute 
is hailing as ``welcome and warranted'' the International
Energy Agency's call today for policies that will strengthen nuclear 
power's leading role in the United States' energy system.
The International Energy Agency issued its recommendations in 
support of nuclear power as part of the ``1998 Review of
Energy Policies of the United States'' that it released during the 
World Energy Congress here. 

The 150-page report (www.iea.org) states that the United States 
should ``maintain the nuclear option, inter alia, by supporting
appropriate educational opportunities and (research and 
development) programmes.'' Nuclear energy provides nearly 20
percent of the nation's electricity needs. 

``The International Energy Agency's advocacy of pro-nuclear 
policies is welcome and warranted,'' said Angelina S. Howard,
senior vice president for the Nuclear Energy Institute. ``Nuclear 
energy is crucial for achievement of the nation's economic and
environmental goals. The technology has a bright future and is a 
highly competitive source of power in the emerging world of
electricity competition. But the opportunities that are at hand to 
maximize nuclear energy's role for the nation's economic and
environmental well-being can best be fully realized if federal and 
state policies adjust to the realities of a competitive
marketplace.'' 

The report released by IEA, an autonomous, Paris-based body that 
carries out energy cooperation among 24 counties
belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development (OECD), contains seven nuclear
recommendations, as follows: 

     maintain the nuclear option; 
     ensure that Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety regulation is 
     cost- effective ``without prejudicing the high safety levels
     already achieved;'' 
     ensure ``early progress toward an interim retrievable storage for  
     spent nuclear fuel'' using funds already collected from
     ratepayers; 
     expedite progress on the characterization of Yucca Mountain,    
     Nev., the site that is under scientific study as a possible
     permanent repository for used nuclear fuel; 
     ensure that decommissioning funds are set aside in adequate    
     amounts and given privileged protection; 
     ensure that regulations do not impede the ``efficient transfer'' of  
     nuclear power plants to new ownership; and 
     remove the ``discrimination against foreign investment'' in civil     
     nuclear facilities. 

At a news conference in which the IEA report was released, Robert 
Gee, deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy,
concurred that ``nuclear energy ought to continue to remain a 
viable option,'' and said the Clinton Administration supports
measures ``to see how we can extend the existing lives of our 
nuclear capacity.'' 

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry's 
Washington, D.C.-based policy organization. For additional
information about the Institute, see the Institute's World Wide Web 
site at www.nei.org. 

------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com

Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205
        
ICN Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -

The opinions expressed are solely, absolutely, positively, definitely those of the author, and NOT my employer

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