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In this briefing
The Future of Nuclear Power Reducing and Reusing Nuclear Waste Securing America's Energy Future SAFE Energy Act of 2007 The No Zone and China in our backyard? Energy Policy Act of 2005 Press Releases Editorials
Online Resources
Senate Committee on
Energy & Natural Resources SRC's Energy Information Center The White House:
Energy In Focus US Dept of Energy

INL: Birthplace of Nuclear Power


In 1949, Idaho became the birthplace of the global commercial nuclear industry when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission broke ground on the world's first nuclear reactor, Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1).
The Experimental Breeder Reactor powers test bulbs in the lab. These electric lights were the first to be lit by nuclear fission in this historic photograph of EBR-1
In 1951, the reactor was operational and providing power to the town of Arco, Idaho. Since then, 52 reactors have been built and tested at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Nuclear Power

The current growth of nuclear power is due in large part to the increasing demand for advanced clean power generation. Today, 20 percent of our domestic electricity is generated by clean nuclear power and 16 percent of the world's electricity is generated by clean nuclear power. Nuclear power is the world's largest source of non-emitting energy, today producing 73% of our emission-free electricity, and in 2006 alone U.S. nuclear plants avoided over 680 million tons of carbon emissions.

The State of Idaho gets a significant amount of power from its dams and other clean energy sources like wind and solar power, giving Idahoans the lowest power rates in the nation. Developing commercial nuclear power continues our efforts in clean power generation and will enhance our position as one of the cleanest States in the nation.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides crucial incentives for the commercial utility industry to invest in nuclear power technology. After 20 plus years of inactivity, several reactor license applications were submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2007. As many as 30 applications for new reactors are anticipated in the next few years.

Money Saving Gas Tips

How you drive and maintain your vehicle can either increase or decrease your vehicle's fuel efficiency and your gas costs.

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant

  • operates at higher temperatures (900°C instead of 500°C)
  • uses advanced materials that are resistant to melting
  • uses fuel more efficiently and produces less waste
  • is built "below grade" to significantly increase safety
  • produces electricity, hydrogen, and process heat for other uses

Next Generation Nuclear Plant schematic
view NGNP schematic [PDF/173KB]

The Future of Nuclear Power

The authorization of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) was another important provision of the Energy Policy Act. This advanced reactor design is safer and more efficient than current reactors, and expands nuclear technology beyond just generating electricity.

The NGNP offers other carbon-free uses as a process heat source for refining, manufacturing, and chemical processes that typically rely on large amounts of expensive natural gas. The high temperature process heat generated by nuclear power is twice as efficient in producing hydrogen, and can be used in extracting unconventional fuels from oil sands and oil shale.

The INL is currently managing the design and licensing activities that will lead to the construction of an NGNP prototype as early as 2016 at the Laboratory site.

Reducing and Reusing Nuclear Waste

Money Going to Waste

Since 1982 electric rate payers who use electricity supplied by nuclear energy have paid for the used nuclear fuel disposal program. For every kilowatt-hour used, consumers of nuclear generated electricity contribute one-tenth of a cent into the waste fund, which collects about $750 million per year.

$24.9 billion      total paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund
- $8.9 billion      spent on program costs so far
$16.0 billion      balance remaining to be spent

As the U.S. Department of Energy's lead laboratory for the Office of Nuclear Energy, the INL plays a key role in finding better ways to manage used nuclear fuel. It is clear that the U.S. can no longer waste this valuable resource by allowing it to be buried under the ground when it could economically produce clean energy.

The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) was introduced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2005. The GNEP program will recycle commercially used nuclear fuel and reduce waste. Because the INL has been treating and recycling used nuclear fuel since the 1960's, DOE chose the INL to take the lead in developing GNEP technologies.




“On no one quality, on no one process, on no one country, on no one route, and on no one field must we be dependent. Safety and certainty in oil lie in variety and variety alone.”

• Winston Churchill

Securing America's Energy Future

Energy security is becoming a hot topic due to tight oil markets, high oil prices, threats of terrorism, instability in some exporting nations, a nationalist backlash in others, fierce competition for supplies, geopolitical rivalries, and all countries' absolute need for energy to power their economic growth.

SAFE Energy = Clean Energy

Energy security and environmental responsibility go hand in hand . The introduction of the Security and Fuel Efficiency (SAFE) Energy Act of 2007 provides a pathway to achieve both. The Act provides for increases in vehicle fuel efficiency, expanded use of alternative fuel sources and related infrastructure, expanded production and exploration of domestic oil and natural gas, and improved management of alliances to better secure global oil supplies. The SAFE Energy Act also provides significant reductions in the production of greenhouse gas emissions.

SAFE Energy Act of 2007

“We need to balance conservation, new technologies, and production rather than support one solution over another.” • Dorgan, Craig Introduce Energy Bill
News release, 03/14/07

The primary goal of the SAFE Energy Act is to improve the energy security of the U.S. through a 50% reduction in the oil intensity of the economy by 2030.

The cornerstone principles of the legislation include:

  • achievable, stepped increases in fuel efficiency of the transportation fleet;
  • increased availability of alternative fuel sources and infrastructure;
  • expanded production and enhanced exploration of domestic and other secure oil and natural gas resources; and
  • improved management of alliances to better secure global energy supplies.

The President signed the 2007 Energy Bill on December 19, 2007. I attended the signing ceremony to demonstrate my support for the bill, which includes two provisions from my SAFE Energy Act, introduced earlier in the year: increasing transportation fuel efficiency and domestic production of biofuels. Please read my statements following the signing ceremony and Senate passage.

Resources from the Senate Floor:

Floor Charts

"The No Zone"

Standard quality [PDF/234KB]
High quality [PDF/604KB]

"Gulf of Mexico Energy Production"

Standard quality [PDF/198KB]
High quality [PDF/509KB]

The No Zone and China in our backyard?

“Red China should not be left to drill for oil within spitting distance of our shores without competition from U.S. industries. Not only is this a supply and energy security issue for us, it is an environmental issue. China has a dismal environmental record fraught with cover-up and blatant disregard for its own people.” • Craig Offers New Solution to Increase Oil Supply
News release, 04/26/06

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We are experiencing higher gasoline, oil, and natural gas prices today because of decades of restricted development of new sources of petroleum. We have identified oil and natural gas reserves that can be developed and used responsibly, yet efforts to responsibly develop the energy resources our country possesses, transforming vast areas of opportunity into "The No Zone."

Because of current U.S. policy, U.S. companies are prohibited from developing oil fields that lie in Cuban waters and come within 50 miles of Florida.

However, Cuba is exploring and potentially developing these oil fields, estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to possess more oil than the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, and Cuba is partnering with China and other countries, such as Spain, France, and Canada.

Now, as we sit idly by, worried about development 100 miles from Florida, China is actively exploring oil fields 50 miles from Key West, Florida. U.S. companies are barred from working in this area because of U.S. policy . So, instead of allowing the most environmentally responsible companies to operate there and increase our domestic supply, China, who has a dismal environmental record, is sucking close, lucrative oil reserves dry.

Floor statements:
Want China in Your Backyard? - 04/26/2006 | Text | Video | Audio [MP3/18:00/10.8MB]
Floor Charts: China in our backyard [PDF/148KB]
The Answer is Always "No" - 05/10/2006 | Text | Video | Audio [MP3]
Floor Charts: The No Zone [PDF/212KB]
Oil Supply and Demand in the US [PDF/159KB]
Committee testimony:
Energy in Latin America - 06/22/2006
Audio clip:
Press Conference - 05/11/06 [MP3/14:25/5.8MB]
Editorials:
Untapped Potential - 04/27/06
Want China in Your Backyard? - 05/11/06
Press releases:
Craig Offers New Solution to Increase Oil Supply - 04/26/06
Bill Introduced to Allow U.S. Companies to Explore for Oil in Cuban Waters - 05/11/06
Bill text:
Western Hemisphere Energy Security Act - 05/11/06 | Document [PDF/34KB]

Energy Policy Act of 2005

Congress approved an Energy Bill, and the President signed the bill into law on August 8, 2005.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources published a brief overview of the Energy Policy Act, providing highlights of the key issues and effects of the legislation:

Impacts of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [PDF/560KB]

· Ethanol · Nuclear · Energy Efficiency · Wind · Solar · Electricity · Clean Fuel and Vehicles · Oil · Coal · Natural Gas · Hydropower ·




Press releases:
Senate Sends Energy Bill to President - 07/29/05
Senate Clears Bipartisan Energy Bill - 06/28/05
Bipartisan Energy Bill Approved by Committee - 05/26/05
Nuclear and Hydro Measures Added to Energy Bill - 05/25/05
Audio clip:
Remarks on the Energy Bill - 07/28/05 [mp3, 5:51, 5.4mb]
Online resources:
Senate Energy Committee Conference Report [pdf/2.6mb]
The White House: Energy in Focus
SRC's Energy Information Center

Press Releases related to energy issues

Editorials