Tom Carper

Let me begin by saying my thoughts and prayers go out to all citizens of Japan, especially to the families of the thousands of disaster victims.

We have 104 nuclear power plants. I said earlier that I thought the first one was built about 50 years ago.

I think it was Senator Alexander who said earlier, mentioned that if you took all of the spent fuel in this country and you stacked it up on a football field it would be about 20 or 25 feet high.

In adversity lies opportunity.

We cannot reach a clean energy future without natural gas and without nuclear power.

In the United States we have 104 nuclear power plants in 31 states, which generate approximately a fifth of our Nation's total electric consumption.

Tom Carper and I have called on the NRC to conduct a comprehensive review of all nuclear facilities in the United States.

I think I asked this question of Chairman Jaczko the last time he was here and I think he said, to the best of his knowledge, no one has died of radiation poisoning or sickness.

I think the Commission, when you are re-licensing, have to look at this as if it is a new opportunity.

Thank you so much for being here and for testifying today.

I cannot imagine a future for the United States that does not include nuclear power to create electricity.

But nothing, nothing is more important than the health of our children and risking their health is an unacceptable price under any condition.

Using diesel fluids for hydraulic fracturing in shale is subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act. It would be required to get a permit.

The events that struck Japan are reminders that we are all vulnerable to unexpected disasters, whether an act of nature or a terrorist attack.

I again want to thank Senator Cardin because his State has a lot at stake here as well.

We need the natural gas, but we also need clean water.

I want to thank Senator Casey for really taking this issue on in a very responsible way.

Senator Feinstein and I also requested special immediate attention be given to those U.S. nuclear reactors that are subjected to significant seismic activity.

I believe I mentioned, a lot of people think we operate under a culture of spendthrift, and what we are trying to do is to move away from that toward a culture of thrift.

All right. All good ideas. Thank you.

This is a pass/fail course.

I always joke about when you look up in the dictionary, you look up a particular word, you have somebody's picture.

How do we get better results for less money. That is really what we do. That is our bumper sticker--

Your many hearings highlighting the wasteful spending in this area has led to many improvements in Federal agencies and at the Office of Management and Budget.

I want, if you would, to just think sort of the big-picture here again as we close out.