Editorial: Pull the plug already

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

It was revealed this week that the Senate's recently passed energy bill could make companies eligible for tens of billions of dollars in federally backed loans to build nuclear power plants.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who wrote the legislation, has said that the provision is intended to provide federal loan guarantees only for the most cutting-edge, state-of-the-art power plants.

In reality, the provision grants the Energy Department the authority to approve virtually unlimited numbers of federal loan guarantees for power plants that use "clean" generating technologies. Under existing law, Congress sets the amount of such loans annually.

According to a story by The New York Times on Tuesday, nuclear industry officials say that under the new bill, loan guarantees could be available to companies proposing to build 28 nuclear reactors, which are considered "clean" in comparison to coal-burning plants. The provision also could allow guarantees for power plants using so-called "clean" coal-burning technology or renewable fuels, the Times reports.

Nuclear industry officials say they need government loan guarantees because banks and investors will not provide funding for the plants without them.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a strong supporter of the nuclear industry and also of this poorly written provision, has said that congressional limits on the volume of loans isn't necessary because power companies would have to pay a fee upfront that covers the cost of the guarantee.

But this isn't simply about money. Without a law that requires annual oversight and consideration by Congress, the Energy Department could open the floodgates for construction of more than two dozen nuclear power plants in a nation that is running out of room to store nuclear waste. The Energy Department's only solution to that problem is the preposterous notion of opening a repository for high-level nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain - an ill-conceived proposal dying a slow and warranted death.