Political Quotes

“we don't yet know the exact number of the amendment because we are refiling a minor correction to it. However, I wish to talk about a very critical amendment that I and a number of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle are bringing to the legislation today dealing with nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is one of the key elements of our national energy policy, and it must be one that is strengthened and improved as we move forward into the new global energy climate that we are dealing with in this country. I wish to start out, however, by going back in time. Sixty-four years ago, in a desert plain near Arco, ID, the Idaho National Reactor Testing Station used the Experimental Breeder Reactor, known as EBR-1, to light four lightbulbs. This was the first time in the history of the world that a nuclear reactor was used to generate electrical power. This singular event proved that atomic energy could be used to create commercial electricity. After this momentous event, EBR-1 went on to serve its real purpose, proving it was possible to build a reactor that could create more fuel than it consumed. Breeder reactors were possible. Another reactor at the National Reactor Testing Station named BORAX-III went on to power the entire town of Arco, ID. Now, Arco is not a huge metropolis like New York City, but there, once again, a nuclear reactor was used to provide the electrical needs of an entire city--another energy first for nuclear energy in our history.…”