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During a visit this week to the single-unit Enrico Fermi nuclear power plant in the state of Michigan, Mr McCain said the country needs to “get serious” about energy independence.
He noted that his first experience with nuclear power was in the Navy. “I knew it was safe then,” he said. “I know it’s safe now.” He said Democratic leaders in Congress, which is now on a five-week recess, should call legislators back into session to deal with energy challenges the country faces.
Mr McCain first called for 45 new nuclear reactor units in June 2008, saying the task will be “as difficult as it is necessary” because the US will need to recover the knowledge and skills that have been lost over “three stagnant decades” in a highly technical field.
He said he is a proponent of nuclear as a “clean, safe, and efficient source of energy”, but despite all these benefits the US has not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over 30 years. “And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone,” he said.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Nuclear ‘Must Be At Core Of US Policy’, Says Bush (World Nuclear Review No. 25, 22 June 2007)
McCain Plans To Almost Double Number Of US Reactors (World Nuclear Review No. 23, 20 June 2008)
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