By Dan Conti / Angela Hatton
Washington, D. C. – Kentucky Congressman Ed Whitfield believes nuclear power will remain a vital part of the US energy picture. Whitfield's district includes the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which enriches uranium for nuclear reactors, including those in Japan. Whitfield says the priority should be ensuring nuclear facilities are run safely.
"I'm not a nuclear engineer, but I know there is some technology based around sodium-cooled reactors. And I've been told sodium-cooled reactors, there is not the possibility of a melt-down and that these are smaller-type plants, maybe fifty to one-hundred megawatt plants."
Whitfield's comments came at a hearing of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee today. He says none of these kinds of plants are currently licensed in the US. A bill to lift the nuclear power moratorium in Kentucky failed to gain full legislative approval during the 2011 regular session.