Thomas Foley: “I do have an amendment today on his bill that would strike $5 million in funding for the Department of Energy's newly…”

“I do have an amendment today on his bill that would strike $5 million in funding for the Department of Energy's newly proposed Nuclear Energy Research Initiative, also known as NERI, and I am not opposed, Mr. Chairman, to nuclear power or its research. In fact, I have a reactor in my district and I fully support its continued existence, but I will not allow taxpayers to pay for research that benefits an industry that had $141 billion in revenue last year alone. Mr. Chairman, everything but the kitchen sink seems to be fair game for this program. They want R&D funds to focus on their competitiveness including operations, maintenance and fuel costs. This program contains large elements of the Nuclear Energy Security program that Congress choose not to fund last year. NES and NERI both would fund efforts to examine reactor aging issues, fuel economics and advanced instrumentation and controls. Some of this same research is already performed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”