NEI Nuclear Notes

If you're a proponent of nuclear energy in the United States, I'm not sure that Steven Chu 's testimony from today's Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of Energy could be any more encouraging. Excerpts from a rush transcript are below. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): Let me ask you about nuclear energy. You have indicated in your statements and in our conversations that you support continued nuclear development. I think we recognize as we want to move towards a world where we have greatly reduced our emissions, that nuclear is a very key component in our energy package there. The nuclear waste policy act requires that in exchange for a 1 mill per kWh fee on nuclear power, the DOE has an unconditional obligation to take and dispose of that nuclear waste. That was beginning back in 1998. Obviously we’re about ten years late. The projected taxpayer liability for DOE’s failure is $11 billion at this point and growing. The issues as they relate to Yucca Mountain. I unde...

Time to scratch a name off your Energy Secretary candidate list? ABC 's Jake Tapper and Martha Raddatz are reporting that retired Marine General James L. Jones has emerged as the leading candidate to serve as the National Security Adviser for President-elect Obama . The former head of NATO and U.S. forces in Europe, Jones is currently president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy . A move to the NSA could provide synergies with the work done at the ITCE ; where energy policy is viewed as integral to national security. Click here for more NNN coverage on who will be in the Obama Cabinet .

The Hillary to State speculation drew most of the attention this weekend, but there was some Energy news. The AP is reporting that New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson has been named to the Obama-Biden transition team on Energy . Jackson joins Robert Sussman, a former deputy Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and 11 others. They will conduct a department review to provide Obama and key advisers with information they need to make policy, budgetary and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration. Per the Obama transition site , Jackson has been named a Team Lead for the EPA Review. Other Team Leads include Cecilia V. Estolano , CEO of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles , and Robert Sussman , a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress . Some did play the cabinet parlor game this weekend: in the pages of Newsweek , Slate.com 's Jacob Weisberg lobbies for Al Gore to become Energy Secretary . The genius principle should ...

Add a new name to the list: the AP offers up former Indiana Congressman Philip Sharp . Sharp is currently serving as president of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Resources for the Future . And in a feature titled " The New Team ," The New York Times fills in the backstory of an Energy Secretary candidate first reported by the Washington Post 's Steve Mufson last week: (Ret.) General James L. Jones . Click here for more NNN coverage on who will be in the Obama Cabinet .

We're still waiting on a copy of the transcript, but Katie Fehrenbacher over at earth2tech is reporting on an interesting exchange between former U.S. Energy Secretaries from Day One at the Forbes Energy Conference . While [James] Edwards and [John] Herrington were riled up over cap and trade, [Spencer] Abraham 's biggest issue was actually with people who fight both climate change and nuclear power. It’s impossible to fight both, and nuclear will need to be a big part of the clean power equation, Abraham said.

The parlor game of cabinet speculation continues... The Houston Chronicle lobbies for their hometown Mayor. The next secretary of energy needs expert understanding of the fossil fuel industry — without being owned by it or wedded to its dominance. This official must shepherd America from dependence on oil, and toward alternatives, without crippling the economy. As mayor of the nation's conventional and alternative energy capital, Houston Mayor Bill White is uniquely qualified for this post. He has the executive experience, having served as deputy energy secretary for President Bill Clinton; he is also a warrior against pollution and environmental depredation, who was nevertheless backed by Houston's energy industry and has long worked on guiding Houston's economy to greater diversity. The Politico is reporting that former eBay SVP, Steve Westly , is " emerging as a strong dark horse candidate for energy secretary. " Westly co-chaired Cleantech and Green Busin...

With the possible exception of Redskins-Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking and the Veep stakes , few DC parlor games attract more interest than guessing who will fill a new president's cabinet. Towards that end, we'll be feeding the frenzy (chumming the waters?) these next few weeks by passing along pundit speculation; paying special attention to the position of Energy Secretary. From a Washington Post online chat earlier today, Energy Wire 's Steve Mufson weighed in. At the Energy Department, a lot of people have mentioned to me Gov. Ed Rendell from Pennsylvania. I’m not sure why he would want to do that, but there it is. The department mostly handles nuclear weapons and waste issues. The energy policy bit is smaller and largely about setting appliance standards. One new task it will have: Promoting carbon capture and storage so that coal plants won’t emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases. That might create a desire for an expert in that area to be deputy secretary, maybe s...