Senate Proceeding on Jun 4th, 2009 :: 4:02:30 to 4:29:25
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4:02:28 to 4:02:48( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: there right now and the progress that's been made. mr. voinovich: thank you, senator. i take pride in the fact that our committee has helped transform the n.r.c. into one of the best regulatory agencies in the world. we've worked very hard placing the right people on the

4:02:30 to 4:29:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: George Voinovich

4:02:49 to 4:03:09( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: commission, providing the commission with the resources and tools necessary to do its job and holding them accountable to the results. in fact, we've held more than 20 hearings involving the n.r.c. in the past eight years. seen dramatic improvements in both the safety records and reliability of the 104 operating reactors today from eight years

4:03:10 to 4:03:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: ago. let's face it. without public confidence that these plants are safe and secure, there won't be any nuclear renaissance. we have spent a lot of time and effort to make sure that the n.r.c. has the resources, particularly the human capital it needsto make sure that our 104 nuclear plants are operating safely.

4:03:31 to 4:03:51( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: but also to ensure it can process multiple-license renewal applications a the combine combined-license applications for the new plants that are going to be coming on board. we wanted to make sure that the n.r.c. doesn't become a bottleneck. in 2005, we introduced three pieces of legislation as part of

4:03:52 to 4:04:13( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: the 2005 energy policy act to provide flexibilities in hiring and employee retention. to hire over 1,000 highly qualified engineers and scientists over the last three years to replace workers and to bring on those new people that are going to be necessary to process the new

4:04:14 to 4:04:34( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: applications coming in. i'm pleased also to note that the nuclear regulatory commission has been rated as the best place to work among federal agencies for two years in a row. they have a great workforce. they're a top-notch organization. the good news is that the n.r.c. now has 17 applications for 26

4:04:35 to 4:04:56( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: new power reactors under review, and all indications are the n.r.c.'s review of these applications is progressing on schedule. i haven't heard a complaint from anyone that's filed applications. we're expected that these applications will be appved in 2010 or in early 2011. obviously it's not a done deal,

4:04:57 to 4:05:18( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: but we have every believe that we're on theight track. as a matter of fact, five utility companies today -- southern ohio, scana in south carolina, n.r.g. in texas, constellation in maryland and progress -- n.r.g. in texas and

4:05:19 to 4:05:40( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: progress in florida have signed engineer procurement construction projects and are gearing up for construction pending n.r.c. approval and loan guarantees from the department of energy. in other words, we're starting to take off in terms of getting some air mr. president, i haven't had -- i have in hand an opinion piece that i wrote in "the nuclear

4:05:41 to 4:06:01( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: news magazine" i wrote last year entitled "making the nuclear renaissance a trielt." the paper outlines the need to expand the use of nuclear energy in a carbon-constrained economy and provides a road map to overcome challenges faced by the nuclear industry. i ask unanimous consent that this paper be included in the record. i urge my colleagues to read it

4:06:02 to 4:06:23( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and anyone that's interested can get it on my web site, understand that that's voinovich voinovich.senate.gov. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. voinovich: thank you. as i watch the climate change debate unfold in this congress, i rise to raise the same concern i raised last year during the

4:06:24 to 4:06:44( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: debate on the lieberman-warner climate change bill. we without nuclear. the waxman-markey bill that was reported out of the house energy and commerce committee two weeks ago sets the greenhouse emission cap at 80% as did the lieberman-warner bill last year

4:06:45 to 4:07:09( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: but it continues to ignore the need for much wider use of emission-free nuclear energy in order to meet this extremely aggressive goal. i pointed out then that one of the glaring hold holes in the lieberman-warner bill was its deafening silence on nuclear while studies conducted by the

4:07:12 to 4:07:32( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: e.p.a.,e.i.a. pointed to a truth. more than a doubling of nuclear plants would be required. that's bringing online more unanimous 100 nuclear plants in the next 40 years in order to meet the emission goals that are set in that lesmghts around the world, governments are reaching the same conclusion and are turning to nuclear energy as a safe, homegrown, cost-effective

4:07:33 to 4:07:53( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and emission-free solution to increasing energy demand. this is true in europe especially where the nuclear renaissance is in full swing. in france, for example, almost 80% of its electricity comes from nuclear power. in fact, france exports a good deal of its nuclear power generating electricity in its neighboring countries including

4:07:54 to 4:08:15( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: germany. president sarco disee has a-- sarcozy h announced plans to develop new plants. prime minister gordon brown recently signaled his intent to rebuild nuclear energy in the we like it or not, we will not

4:08:16 to 4:08:36( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: meet the challenges of climate change without the far wider use of nuclear ." end of quote. he went international energy agency estimates that we're going to have to build 32 nuclear power plants each year if we're going to half greenhouse gas emissions

4:08:37 to 4:08:57( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: by 2050. that's more than 1300 new reactors. in italy, finland, switzerland, they've all announced new plans to build new reactors after spending the past 25 years trying to phase out nuclear power. these european countries have come full circle in reembracing nuclear after two decades of

4:08:58 to 4:09:18( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: trying to solve their energy and environmental challenges with conservation and renewables alone. significant. unfortunately, many proponents of a cap-and-trade scheme here, such as the lieberman-warner or waxman-markey, seep to be stuck on fantasy that we can achieve the goals

4:09:19 to 4:09:39( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: conservation, finishcy and renewables. even those who believe nuclear has a roleo play esp policies that overwhelmingly favor renewables over nuclear. case in point is the nuclear energy was conspicuously missing from the massive $287 billion stimulus package, while approximately $40 billion in

4:09:40 to 4:10:00( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: various tax credits went to energy efficiency, renewables and i'm not opposed to that. but why did they ignore nuclear? so it's particularly discouraging when the senate version of the legislative language providing an additional $50 billion authority in the stimulus bill was stripped out from the final package during conference.

4:10:01 to 4:10:21( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: who did this? why did they do did? and the same thing happened when resolution was passed a few weeks ago. we had it in there. we know we've got to increase the loan guarantee program to at least $50 billion. and it got stripped out again. instead, the majority added the

4:10:22 to 4:10:43( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: taxpayer-paid $60 billion loan guarantee program allocated solely for renewables, wind, so larks and geothermal, and electric transmission system to support renewable generation. i'd say, if priority in terms of spending big money, let's do the grid. the grid is not what it should be. the grid has got to be improved so that we can use wind and we

4:10:44 to 4:11:05( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: can use solar and we can get energy out across this country. supporters of green energy never mention that it is unrealistic to rely solely on wind and solar power. now, thi think needs to be made clear to every person in the united states, particularly our

4:11:06 to 4:11:27( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: children who are being taught in school that windmills and solar power are the way to the future in terms of the energy needs of the united states of america, and there's something wrong. coal is bad, nuclear you hear it constantly from people that i go back and talk to in ohio and other places.

4:11:28 to 4:11:48( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: right now 50% of the electricity today is 20% by nuclear, 19% by natural gas, 6% by hydro, 3% by wind, solar, and geothermal, and 2% by oil. given the current makeup of u.s.

4:11:49 to 4:12:09( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: en folks are leveling american people about the reality of what they continually tout the need to increase the use of renewable energies to on foreign sources of energy. they say we need to double our use of renewables. i have to tell you this:

4:12:10 to 4:12:31( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: double the utilization of renewables, and that will bring us to 6%. it would likely take at least ten years or more to accomplish. further, it's doubling renewables would lead to any significant decrease in the use of oil because oil only produces 2% of the electricity in the country today.

4:12:32 to 4:12:53( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: particularly i think it's just incredible that some policy-makers such as the newly appointed chairman of ferc, who suggests that we can get our energy needs strictly from renewable sources of energy. give me a break. at only 3% o total electric generation, it is simply intellectual -- intellectual -- dishonest to

4:12:54 to 4:13:14( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: suggest that these renewable sources can replace the base load of electricity currently generated by coal and nuclear in this country. don't get me wrong. i do support expanding the use of renewables like solar and wind and we see that industr growing in my state. but to just say, well, that's it

4:13:15 to 4:13:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and not to look at reality, as i say, it's intellectual dishonest. so my point is that realistically we are not yet in a position to be able to rely upon them for base generation. and this is despite receiving government subsidies. now, here's another little statistic that people are not

4:13:36 to 4:13:58( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: aware of. most americans are not aware of the fact that the 2007 nuclear en 2007, according to energy information agency -- nuclear received $1.59 per megawatt an hour subsidy.

4:13:59 to 4:14:22( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: while wind received $23.37, and solar received $24.34. that's 2007 from the e.i.a. $1 moi 59 .59 for nuclear,

4:14:23 to 4:14:43( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: wind, and $24.3 4 for so similar. today there is a huge energy gap tbeen renewable electricity and we need to look at the way to get the job done. if we want to generate carbon-free electcity, nuclear needs to be a big part of it. i'm not saying the only part, but it is got to be a big part of t the 104 nuclear power plants we have operating today

4:14:44 to 4:15:04( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: which is 20% of electricity generated represents over 70% of the nation's emission-free portfolio. in otherords, the 20% coming from nuclear represents 70% of the emission-free electricity we have in this country. and that means we're avoiding

4:15:05 to 4:15:27( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: 700 million tons of carbon dioxide each year because of nuclear -- 700 million tons. what's that mean to the ordinary citizen? that's 13 million tons is avoided by wind and solar today. that's compared with 700 million in terms of nuclear

4:15:28 to 4:15:48( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: put this in perspective, 700 million tons of annual carbon emissions avoided by our nuclear plants is more than what canada collectively emits each year. in other words, the nuclear nonemitting into the air is the equivalent of all of canada. in terms of something, maybe we

4:15:49 to 4:16:11( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: could better understand this, it is the equivalent of nearly 130 llion cars eve year. that is what -- each year. that is what nuclear power doing, the equivalent of reducing emissions from 130 million automobiles each year in this country. it's the available to meet our energy

4:16:12 to 4:16:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: needs while also curbing emission of greenhouse gases and people are recognizing the respose of nuclear energy because they understand the facts. public opinion, widely is supporting the nuclear 59% of americans support it in the gallup pole. we're not going to be able to turn around our economy, meet

4:16:36 to 4:16:56( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: our energy needs of the policies being discussed without expanding nuclear energy. i look at nuclear as a three-for -- without it we do in the reach our goal of reducing carbon. without it we are not going to be able to provide the baseload electricity we will need for the country. without it we will not be able to rebuild our manufacturing

4:16:57 to 4:17:19( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: base in this country. at a time when we are struggling to regain our economic footing, nuclear energy offers thousan of well paying jobs in all stages of development and production. each new nuclear plant will rather an average of 2,000 workers during construction -- 2,000.

4:17:20 to 4:17:40( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: with peak employment at 2,500 workers if the industry constructed the 30 planned reactors, well over 60,000 workers would be required during construction. once constructed, each plant will create 600 to 700 jobs to operate and maintain.

4:17:41 to 4:18:01( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: that's not to mention the ripple effect that is occurring in other areas. the c.e.o. of westinghouse told me about 12,000 jobs created for each new nuclear plant if you include the manufacturing jobs. this means that more than

4:18:02 to 4:18:24( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: 200,000 manufacturing jobs will be created to supply the needed parts and components for 30 nuclear reactors currently plans. that's not counting the jobs associated with opportunities to europe, china, and india. organized labor gets it. they understand expanding nuclear power will create a lot

4:18:25 to 4:18:48( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: of well-paying jobs. inact, here's what john sweeny said at a roundtable discussion: "ts is not a republican issue. this isn't a democratic issue. it's an american issue." i couldn't agree with him more. i've met with mark airs,

4:18:49 to 4:19:09( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: building and construction trades national president and he and the union are actively supporting construction of new nuclear plants and partnered with the nuclear industry and local colleges. i have been working lard to get the message out for several years: ohio and the surrounding midwest states have been the

4:19:10 to 4:19:31( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: backbone of this nation's nuclear manufacturing base. ohio's small to medium size enterprised companies are poised to lead the transition into the manufacturing jobs are already in existence in ohio to support the are to come in light of two announcements that will come up

4:19:32 to 4:19:52( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: in the next couple of weeks and the ohioans will be very happy about that again will increase the number of people increasing in this industry. i recently gave a speech at the nuclear manufacturing infrastructure council and had an opportunity to meet with several small manufacturing company executives. their message was loud and clear: a clear policy statement

4:19:53 to 4:20:13( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: from the administration and congress is absolutely critical in acknowledging that nuclear-powered generation will be a growing part of our nation's energy mix. investments in programs that support the nuclear industry's near term implementation needs are absolutely vital. that is the number one thi,

4:20:14 to 4:20:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: mr. president, is getting the $50 billion loan guarantee so we can get more of these people off the ground. they all see the long-term potential growth of nuclear and would like to invest in nuclear manufacturing but they need a clear commitment from the government before they make those investments. mr. president, i think these people are saying, what they are

4:20:36 to 4:20:57( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: see saying is we need presidential leadership to acknowledge what most of us and the rest of the world already know: we can't get there from here without nuclear. we can't get there from here without nuclear. i am convinced that nuclear power is the only real alternative weave today to produce enough low-cost, reliable, clean energy to remove

4:20:58 to 4:21:19( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: harmful pollutants from the air, prevent the harmful effects of global climate change and keep jobs from going overseas. the biggest challenge remains the financing, particularly in nonregulated states. the deepening global economic cris is putting additional pressure on the nuclear industry. and on

4:21:20 to 4:21:40( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: today, we have, as i mentioned, the applications have come in but d.o.e. has 14 nuclear presents, a total project cost of $188 billion and loan guarantee requests up to $122 llion. so basically, what i'm saying is that unless we can get this $50

4:21:41 to 4:22:02( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: billion loan guarantee taken care of, it's going to call this progress that we've been making, ing it to a a very important point that gets lost in this discussion is the fact that the loan guarantee program authorized under the energy policy act requires the borrowers to pay all the required fees including what is

4:22:03 to 4:22:24( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: called a there's no cost to the government. in other words, if they borrow $5 billion, you will have to come up with, i think, close to $1 billion in order to secure that so that if things don't go well on the loan we've got something to turn to. subsidy cost is levied on each loan guarantee similar to a down payment on a mortgage in case of a dwrawlt.

4:22:25 to 4:22:46( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: any potential defaults are covered by fees paid by the applicants. i have a copy of a recent m.i.t. study on the future of nuclear power. the authors include former clinton administration officials

4:22:47 to 4:23:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: john deutch and erni yevmen they say to mitigate global warming we must reevaluate the role of nuclear power as part of the energy future of our country. i share the conclusions from this report which i believe fits rather nicely with the speech -- and i quote -- "the current assistance program put into

4:23:09 to 4:23:30( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: place by the 2005 energy policy act has not been effective and needs to be improved. the sober warning is that if more is not done, nuclear power will diminish as a practical and timely auction for deployment at a scale that constitutes a material contribution to climate change risk mitigation." mr. president, i ask unanimous

4:23:31 to 4:23:51( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: consent to include this report in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. voinovich: another issue that has plagued the industry for decades is the u.s. government's fall to meet its commitment to assume responsibility for spent nuclear first, let's get the record straight: i've talked with many

4:23:52 to 4:24:12( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: experts and policy people including secretary chu and n.r.c. chairman kline and they all assure me -- this is important everyone understands that -- that the current spent nuclear that's being stored today in dry casks and pools are safe, are safe, and are secure

4:24:13 to 4:24:35( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: for at least 100 years. that's very important because folks are saying, well, you can't go forward with this because we don't with the waste. well, we would like to do something more permanent than what we're doing but the fact of the matter is that with the dry casks that we have we're in good shape for at least 100 years.

4:24:36 to 4:24:56( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: so the lack of a r yucca should not be something that would inhibit us from licensing new reactors. that being said, we must pursue a long-term solution now. if yucca is not going to materialize, we owe the american people a viable alternative. the 1982 nuclear waste policy

4:24:57 to 4:25:19( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: act established a nuclear waste fund, a fee paid by utilities to create a fund to deal with nuclear waste and since its beginning it has collected $29 million. so everyone since that act went into effect we hav collected $29 million from ratepayers in this country. unfortunately, the fund is on

4:25:20 to 4:25:40( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: budget and only about $9 billion was used to deal with waste. the rest of the $20 billion amounts to little more than an i.o.u. to ratepayers and even if the administration decided to proceed with yucca we don't have the money to build a repository. we spent the money on other things and we'll have to borrow

4:25:41 to 4:26:01( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: over $20 billion to replenish th fund. and the federal courts have ruled in favor of utilities, something else that most people are not aware of, and, thus far, we have paid utilities $550 million in damages haven't come up with a permanent

4:26:02 to 4:26:23( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: repository for nuclear waste. i'm sure if we keep going the way we are it's going to be in the billions. i recently met with secretary chu and he told me he will convene a blue study alternatives to yucca. i believe this is just kicking the can down the road for a couple of years. we have been studying this thing for more than four decades and

4:26:24 to 4:26:44( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we need to provide clear direction and certainty on this issue. the time for studying options is over. and the feder government must meet its legal obligation and start taking the spent fuels problem sooner rather than lar. if the administration is pulling the plug on yucca without having a viable alternative long-term

4:26:45 to 4:27:08( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: solution, i think we owe it to the american people to refund their fs a stop living -- levying the fees. i introduced the nuclear fuel management corporation establishment act of 2008 in the last congress, together with

4:27:09 to 4:27:31( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: senators dough minutealsenators dough minute sksenators domenici and dole which will take the nuclear waste fund off budget and give it to the corporation without the budget appropriations process. i'm planning to reintroduce that bill with senators murkowski, alexander and burr and hope to get cosponsors. it is about time we get serious of mapping out a future course for our nation.

4:27:32 to 4:27:52( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: i believe utilizing nuclear energy is a key part of the mixed bag of offering us our best opportunity to truly harmonize our energy environment and economic needs. nuclear energy offers thousands of well-paying jobs in all stages of development production at a time when we're

4:27:53 to 4:28:15( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: struggling to regain our economic footing. it's worth repeating: 12,000 well-paying jobs will be created for each new plant, 360,000 jobs for the 30 nuclear reactors that are planned. mr. president, the american people get it. the manufacturing gets it. the labor unions get it.

4:28:16 to 4:28:37( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and the international communit community -- and i've en to london, i've been to paris, i've been to austria, i've been around -- all of them understand -- in fact i was on a climate change panel about a month ago that was sponsored by the germans a we met in brussels.

4:28:38 to 4:28:59( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: and i was amazed at the number of people who said, mr. senator, we will nev goals for reducing emissions without the u of nuclear power. mr. president, it's time president obama congress get -- we've got to launch the nuclear renaissance in this country.

4:29:00 to 4:29:22( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: we just can't get there from here without nuclear. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. voinovich: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

4:29:23 to 4:29:36( Edit History Discussion )

George Voinovich: will call the roll.