Angie Craig: “this Nation has a nuclear legacy that some would like to shy away from. It is, in fact, the legacy of which I am proud.…”

“this Nation has a nuclear legacy that some would like to shy away from. It is, in fact, the legacy of which I am proud. It has brought safety and security to this country for decades. Now we must handle it in a responsible fashion, because from that legacy there is a debt, and the debt is the safe and responsible management of nuclear waste from the military side. Some years ago, we decided that a permanent repository would also house high-level military nuclear waste. While all of that legacy is a responsibility of our Government and our citizens, there is another legacy that we can be even more proud of, and that is the history of the commercial electrical generating industry that chose to generate electricity from nuclear energy. About 20 percent of our electrical base today is nuclear, and our scientists and environmental friends tell us that if we are to obtain the clean air standards in the nonattainment areas, we will probably have to have more nuclear generated electricity, or at least we will have to keep the same ratios even with the growth of our country. All of a sudden, out of a Kyoto discussion comes a new recognition of a phenomenally clean, safe form of electrical generation. We all understand that. We all find it terribly important. If we are going to address the reality of climate change--and all of us are concerned about it--one of our obligations is to provide a safe, clean source of energy, and it is nuclear.”