US President Barack Obama has announced eight billion dollars in loan guarantees to build the first nuclear power plant on US soil in nearly 30 years. Obama said nuclear power must play a key role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Obama said nuclear power, despite concerns among some environmentalists over safety, must play a key role in an energy policy designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and wean the United States off foreign oil from volatile regions.
“On an issue which affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we cannot continue to be mired in the same old debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs,” Obama said. “We will have to build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in America.” Obama said on a visit to a training center focusing on clean energy and low carbon energy technologies outside Washington. We are announcing roughly eight billion dollars in loan guarantees to break ground on the first new nuclear plant in our country in nearly three decades,” Obama said.
The loan guarantees will go towards the construction of two new nuclear reactors at an existing nuclear facility in Burke, Georgia, the White House said. At a time of economic blight when the administration is trying to create a new generation of clean energy jobs, Obama said the investment in nuclear power would pay off in employment opportunities in years to come. “It is a plant that will create thousands of jobs in the next few years and some 800 permanent jobs, well-paying permanent jobs, in the years to come. And this is only the beginning,” Obama said.
The president also warned that America’s competitors were beating it to the punch on nuclear energy, specifically mentioning longer-term investments by Japan and France in the industry. He sad of 56 nuclear reactors around being built around the world, 21 are in China, six in South Korea, and five in India – some of the key economies he most often mentions trailblazing the rivals to the United States.
“To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we will need to increase our supply the nuclear power. It is that simple. “Make no mistake: whether it is nuclear energy, or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in these technologies today, we will be importing them tomorrow.” Obama’s move uses a 2005 law that authorizes the Energy Department to guarantee loans to projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.