Ed Whitfield: “Today I rise to discuss an issue that I think very few people in America are aware of. It relates to the very important…”

“Today I rise to discuss an issue that I think very few people in America are aware of. It relates to the very important topic of nuclear waste and the impact that that has upon our Federal policy and its effect on our energy needs and our Federal debt. Most Americans support nuclear power as a major source of our electricity. Today it provides 20 percent of all the electricity produced in America. Now, we know that over the next 15 or 20 years our demand for electricity is going to double what it is today. I might also remind everyone that coal is providing 51 percent of all the electricity produced in America. As I said, nuclear power provides about 20 percent. The administration and many people are focused on alternative forms of energy, particularly solar and wind power. Now, all of the experts will tell you that while, yes, some energy can be produced from solar and wind power, it will never come close to meeting the demands of the American people in energy. I might add on the nuclear power front, today in America we have 109 nuclear power plants located in 39 States across the country. At each one of those sites nuclear waste is being stored today. It does have a major impact on our environment, it has major concerns for security, and it has major costs for the American people. The solution that Congress came up with many years ago was to build Yucca Mountain as a deep repository to store this waste indefinitely.”