Victor Fazio: “Mr. Chairman, the sponsors of this amendment to terminate the gas turbine-modular helium reactor [GT-MHR] program appear…”

“Mr. Chairman, the sponsors of this amendment to terminate the gas turbine-modular helium reactor [GT-MHR] program appear not to appreciate the environmental benefits provided by nuclear power and the particularly unique environmental advantages of the GT-MHR technology. To exploit the benefits of nuclear power, the development of advanced nuclear technologies needs to be continued with the objective of achieving higher efficiencies, enhanced safety characteristics, lower costs, greater proliferation resistance, and less environmental impact. The GT-MHR is the only foreseeable option that offers an improvement in these characteristics. Today, over 20 percent of the Nation's electricity is being produced by nuclear power which is displacing, on a yearly basis, 600 million tons of carbon dioxide, 5 million tons of sulfur dioxide, and 2 million tons of nitrogen oxides. However, 70 percent of the electrical power is being provided by burning fossil fuels--mostly coal, some natural gas, and some oil. Combustion of these fuels results in the production of significant environmental pollution--greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, acid rain gases such as sulfur dioxide, and smog effluents such as nitrogen oxides.”