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The Bush administration plans to expand the use of nuclear energy in an effort to reduce U.S. dependency on imported oil.
The administration plans to upgrade and construct nuclear facilities over the next decade. This would mark the first new nuclear plants ordered in the United States in more than 30 years.
"We are going to see the second age of nuclear energy," an official said. "It's either that or we get used to the idea of regular blackouts."
Officials said the Energy Department plans to increase nuclear generating capacity from 100 gigawatts in 2004 to 109 gigawatts by 2030.
They said this would include the increase by three gigawatts through upgrades at existing plants. In 2005, the department expected that nuclear power comprise nearly 800 billion net kilowatt hours of electricity.
The plan also calls for the production of six gigawatts of electricity through the construction of additional nuclear power plants. The first new nuclear plant would begin operations in 2014, which would be the first nuclear facility ordered in the United States in more than 30 years.
The Energy Department program marks a turnaround from 2002, when the nuclear power industry was reeling from 9/11. At the time, many in Congress and even in the administration feared that nuclear power plants would become a prime target of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Over the last three years, however, the administration has encouraged initiatives to upgrade security and facilities. In August 2005, the administration offered a new form of federal risk insurance for the first six builders of new nuclear power plants. Officials said nuclear power plant construction would begin by 2010.
The United States has 104 commercial nuclear power plants licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. No new commercial reactor has come on line since May 1996, although several facilities have been upgraded.
Another element of the administration's plan focuses on protecting nuclear plants from natural disasters. The nuclear industry in Louisiana survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but officials said this stemmed largely from the location of the power reactor.
Officials said the administration plans to spend $335 million in 2007, $355 million in 2008 and $495 million in 2009 for nuclear energy in the United States. The money would be spent on new facilities, research as well as security.
The construction of fourth-generation nuclear reactors would come under new design and seek to use fuel that is proliferation-resistant, officials said. They said the effort, in cooperation with U.S. allies, would also include the production of fuel that contains a low level of radioactive waste. | 
