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Election Day: A Voter Scorecard on Nuclear Energy

Election Day A Voter Scorecard on Nuclear EnergyWith Election Day just one week away, NEI Nuclear Notes is here to provide readers with a handy voter scorecard on nuclear energy. We sent a survey to all 69 Democratic and Republican candidates running for the U.S. Senate (Mark Pryor [D-AR] is running unopposed) and asked these three questions:

1. Does your candidate support the use of nuclear energy as a source of carbon-free electricity in the U.S.?
2. Does your candidate support the expansion of nuclear energy in the United States?
3. Does your candidate support the expansion of nuclear energy in his/her state?

We received completed questionnaires from 31 candidates. Some key takeaways:
  • 30 candidates were supportive of the use of nuclear energy in the U.S.
  • 30 candidates supported the expansion of nuclear energy in their state.
  • Democratic and Republican Senate candidates from: Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Wyoming were in favor expanding nuclear power in their states.
  • Challengers submitted 19 questionnaires, incumbents 12.
So how'd your candidate fare? Did they make the list?
Alabama - Jeff Sessions (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Alaska - Ted Stevens (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Colorado - Mark Udall (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
Georgia - Saxby Chambliss (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Idaho - Larry LaRocco (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
          Jim Risch (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Illinois - Steve Sauerberg (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Iowa - Christopher Reed (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Kansas - Jim Slattery (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
          Pat Roberts (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Louisiana - Mary Landrieu (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
Massachusetts - Jeff Beatty (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Michigan - Jack Hoogendyk (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Mississippi - Roger Wicker (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Nebraska - Scott Kleeb (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
          Mike Johanns (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
New Hampshire - John Sununu (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
New Jersey - Dick Zimmer (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
New Mexico - Steve Pearce (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
North Carolina - Kay Hagan (D): Yes, Qualified Yes*, Qualified Yes*
          Elizabeth Dole (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Oklahoma - Jim Inhofe (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Oregon - Gordon Smith (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Rhode Island - Bob Tingle (R) No No No
South Carolina - Bob Conley (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
Tennessee - Lamar Alexander (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Virginia - Jim Gilmore (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
West Virginia - Jay Wolfe (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
Wyoming - Chris Rothfuss (D): Yes, Yes, Yes
          Michael Enzi (R): Yes, Yes, Yes
          Nick Carter (D): Yes, Yes, Yes

* "If we can find ways to reduce costs, improve safety and find a practical solution for dealing with spent nuclear rods, yes."


[Incumbents are in bold.]
In lieu of completing the questionnaire, several candidates sent letters of support. A few excerpts:

Mark Warner
(D-VA)
"Nuclear power should be expanded and should play a role in addressing our energy and environmental needs. Nuclear power generates one-fifth of America's electricity. It holds the potential to provide clean, relatively inexpensive power and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels at a time when prices are rising.

France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power and Japan is aggressively building new reactors. If they can do it, so can we. While safety around using nuclear power has improved greatly, we need to invest in research to find a long term solution to storing nuclear waste. And as we look to increase our nuclear energy, nuclear plant security also must be a top priority."

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
"I am proud to represent the people of South Carolina, and I believe that my record on the issues is the best resource for voters as they make decisions about their support. As such, I choose not participate in surveys or pledges.

However, I am a strong advocate for a national energy policy that promotes new technology to meet our growing energy demands and to protect the environment. I believe a new energy policy will help ensure that we continue to enjoy the abundant and comparatively inexpensive power on which our homes and businesses have come to rely. Nuclear power must be a part of the solution. One element of bipartisan energy legislation I have cosponsored allows the recycling of spent nuclear fuel which is an essential step forward to ensure we can build more nuclear plants. I look forward to working with organizations such as yours to develop comprehensive energy legislation which both respects our natural environment and provides for our growing energy demands."

Comments

Anonymous said…
There is a mistake. The one "no" reply from Rhode Island is not a Democrat as you say, but a Republican.

Robert Tingle
Anonymous said…
Well, I knew I wasn't going to vote against Kay Hagan. I wonder what her qualified yeses mean. She's an idiot. And Mark Tingle of Rhode Island? Another 1960s hippie drop out?

I am gratified, though, at the turnaround in the Dem party with regard to nuclear energy. I won't vote for a one of their candidates, but maybe there's hope for them after all.
Anonymous said…
@ anonymous, thanks for the heads up. Tingle's party affiliation has been fixed. My apologies. I made the error transferring the data from my spreadsheet. How could I mess up on the casino pit boss who's running 52 points behind Jack Reed?
Anonymous said…
@ anonymous #2. Hagan's qualified "yeses" include this language: "If we can find ways to reduce costs, improve safety and find a practical solution for dealing with spent nuclear rods, yes."
Anonymous said…
I presume that in most of these races, there is a Democrat and a Republican running. Looking at this list, there are a lot of states where the Democratic candidate has ignored this survey. It's interesting to see these cases where politicians do not want to get themselves pinned down by taking a position. This seems to be a Democratic issue for nuclear energy. In the old days, many would have just said "no". A sign of progress?
Anonymous said…
The Hagan response is the new Democrat "no." McCain would call them "extreme environmentalists." With the new no, you can say no without actually saying no. It is like saying that I support clean coal just as long as there are zero CO2 emissions from the plant. You cannot get here from there. Without Democrat support for Yucca and/or GNEP / something similar, you cannot get to new nuclear from there.
Rod Adams said…
@anonymous - Not surprisingly, I disagree. We have operated a large quantity of nuclear power plants for several decades without either Yucca or GNEP. We do not need either to build new plants and operate them for many more decades to come.

Please do not put the benefits of nuclear fission power at risk by making such footballs a litmus test. Nukes should answer the qualified yeses with cheers and positive statements like - "If you like safe, clean, economical nuclear power, then you like nuclear power as it exists already. Let's move."
Anonymous said…
"We have operated a large quantity of nuclear power plants for several decades without either Yucca or GNEP."

Right...by IGNORING the buildup of spent fuel. Reprocess or not, but you can't do that forever.
Anonymous said…
Nobody in the nuclear industry has been ignoring spent fuel. It has been safely stored for decades. It has also been safely transported.

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