Cheney Developing Nuclear Energy Plan

[jpak]

http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/1-nationworld/243-cheney-developing-nuclear-energy-plan.html

While Dick Cheney has been talking tough about Iran's alleged nuclear activities, the vice president has been quietly pursuing nuclear ambitions of his own.

For more than two years, Cheney and a relatively unknown administration official, Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell, have been regularly visiting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to ensure agency officials rewrite regulatory policies and bypass public hearings in order to streamline the licensing process for energy companies that have filed applications to build new nuclear power reactors, as well as applications for new nuclear facilities that are expected to be filed by other companies in the months ahead, longtime NRC officials said.

Before being sworn in as deputy energy secretary in March 2005, Sell, a lawyer whose roots extend to Bush's home state of Texas, was a White House lobbyist working on energy issues. He had also participated in secret meetings with Cheney's Energy Task Force.

In April, Sell and Cheney had both met with NRC officials to sign off on the final regulatory policies related to new nuclear reactors. Following the meeting, Sell had alerted a group of energy companies they could begin to take advantage of the faster application process, NRC officials said.

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[truedelphi]

1. Someone I know who forwards me material about Depleted Uranium has

Some references that the world's known supply of uranium would only give us some ten to fifteen years of nuclear power.

Does anyone else know about this??

[tularetom]

3. I didn't know anybody was actively questioning this

but I always wondered whether anyone was concerned there might be a finite amount of fissionable material in the world.

[DCKit]

7. "Peak U235" will make "Peak Oil" look like a fire sale.

We'll be halfway through building new plants and alchemy will be in vogue again. Only the willfully ignorant fundies will fall for it, but not before billions are spent on construction and research. Dog forbid the corporations don't get their cut of the action before it all goes down in flames.

That's an angle we haven't been working.

[bananas]

6. Yes, if nuclear is scaled up.

At current consumption rates and ore grades, there are several decades worth of uranium,
but if nuclear energy is scaled up the way some people want,
we will use up the easy uranium in about a decade.
Uranium is a limited resource, just like oil.
Like "peak oil", there will be "peak uranium".
Getting the very low grade ores will be expensive and environmentally destructive,
just as melting oil from tar sands and shale rock is more expensive and environmentally destructive than oil wells.

[MadMaddie]

2. How much money does Cheney have invested in these

companies, or what kickback is he getting. Are these crimes yet, this is above and beyond simple pandering.

Hey Nancy and Harry what do you think? Is this enough?

[Benhurst]

4. This is only a small part of his rush program to develop a nuclear

artificial heart.

[kimmerspixelated]

5. Why does he time to be developing anything?

Hello? DICKHEAD- time's up! Maybe just try to develope a plan for evading the law just like you always do. I would think covering your ass constantly would take up the majority of your time! You don't have time for Nuclear Nonsense!

[NNadir]

8. Here is what Dick Cheney knows about nuclear energy...

Hardly anything.

Understanding nuclear energy involves a detailed and subtle knowledge of science, and Cheney, <em>hates</em> science as much as Greenpeace hates science.

He knows how to work up ignorance about it to cause people to kill other people.

The ignorant fall over themselves trying to repeat his claims.

The guy should join Greenpeace after he leaves the dangerous fossil fuel status quo office in Washington.