Finally, a Change I can Believe In

At last, President Obama is about to do something I can approve of:

Obama to announce financing for two nuclear reactors

President Barack Obama will announce on Tuesday plans for the government to help finance the construction of two nuclear reactors -- the first in nearly 30 years, a top US official said.

Obama, who has advocated reducing foreign energy dependency and cutting back on greenhouse gases, will use a 2005 law that authorizes the Energy Department to guarantee loans to projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama "has long believed that nuclear power should be part of our energy mix," a senior administration told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

[...]

Currently only 20 percent of the country's energy needs are met by nuclear power.

The operation will result in some 3,000 construction jobs, and eventually some 850 permanent jobs, the official said, citing company figures. [...]

Hooray! Nuclear power is safer than it's ever been. 80% of nuclear waste can be recycled and rendered harmless. The rest can be stored safely until technological advances allow us to recycle it as well. It's a genuine "green" answer to the quest for clean energy.

No doubt the Leftist "Watermelons" (green on the outside, red on the inside) will fight this. They may yet sandbag Obama's plans, but on this issue, I'll be firmly rooting for the President.

It was once said that only Nixon could go to China. Well maybe only Obama can build nuclear power plants. We shall see!


Also see:

Small nuclear reactors?

[...] The other day I read (I'm not sure where) that we should build small nuclear reactors instead of big ones. There are real problems with big reactors such earthquakes on the West Coast, the NIMBY syndrome and especially red tape. Whoever wrote that mentioned how we had the Army Corps of Engineers building dams and wondered why we couldn't use the Navy's atomic engineers to run small civilian nuclear reactors such as those which power some of our submarines and other warships. [...]

Read the whole thing. For a variety of reasons, small reactors may be the best answer to the worlds energy needs.