In a press conference Tuesday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu defended nuclear energy and said he expected new reactor projects in the U.S. will proceed.
His comments come as a number of politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have called for a pause in nuclear construction. For the last six days, Japan has grappled with crises at four units of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Currently, license applications for 30 new reactors are under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Asked about “putting the brakes” on nuclear development – as suggested by independent Senator Joe Lieberman Sunday – Chu said in congressional testimony reported by Reuters "we have to take a hard look. Were there any lessons learned from this tragedy that can further improve the safety? … It's probably premature to say anything except we will learn from this."
The Obama administration recently proposed $36 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear construction in his 2012 budget as part of a wider effort to reduce greenhouse gasses. A Whitehouse spokesman was quoted as saying the president asked the NRC to include information gathered from the Japanese incident in the agency’s review of nuclear safety.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., indicated the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee may hold hearings about how the accident will affect the nuclear industry.