Timothy Roemer: “the Advanced Light Water Reactor is the last nuclear option left in the federal budget. I rise today to give my support…”

“the Advanced Light Water Reactor is the last nuclear option left in the federal budget. I rise today to give my support to this project and to oppose the Obey amendment to kill this project. We must cut spending, but we must also invest. The ALWR program is an investment that will be repaid: it leverages public dollars to allow U.S. industry to move into a newer, more efficient and safer nuclear age. Pursuit of common interests is a valid use for federal investment in energy research and development. Eliminating the last commercial nuclear energy program is not in our best interest. Without this investment, we might well find ourselves again overly dependent on foreign energy sources and technology. We could lose, for many years, the ability to build affordable nuclear technology for our nation's energy needs. This is the fifth year of a five-year program. It was born of competitive bidding, and is a partnership with our nation's utilities. We must not sit idly by, watching other nations develop advanced technologies which they will almost certainly use as an unfair competitive advantage against our nation in the world market. Like fusion, this is a technology that most advanced nations are pursuing. And also like fusion, should our nation fail to invest in our own share of this important research, our ability to produce affordable energy and compete in an increasingly competitive global market could be seriously weakened.”