Notes from Steven Chu’s Senate confirmation hearings

“Will you take a lead, not just to talk about it, not just to opine about it, but actually do the things necessary to see if we can’t restart our nuclear industry?” asked Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Tennessee Senator Bob Corker echoed the question later, asking Chu if he meant to “pursue nuclear now… all out now?”

Yes, yes, and yes, Chu replied. “Nuclear power is going to be an important part of our energy mix,” he told the committee, a position he has stated before. Chu noted that nuclear power provides 70% of the carbon-free electricity in the country. Still, he said it was important to continue researching better waste disposal and fuel recycling technologies, perhaps in collaboration with other countries.