Expand Nuclear Power, Bush Says

President Bush, the first president to visit a nuclear power plant since Jimmy Carter inspected the stricken Three Mile Island facility in 1979, said Wednesday that the United States “must aggressively move forward” in the expansion of nuclear power.

Presenting his pitch in terms of economic and national security, Bush described nuclear power as a safe, environmentally clean alternative to natural gas and coal for generating electricity.

Bush’s brief tour of the Limerick Generating Station, about 35 miles west of Philadelphia, reflected his stepped-up effort to encourage the nation to move forcefully into the construction of nuclear power generating facilities, on hold since the Three Mile Island incident.

“Nuclear power is abundant and affordable,” Bush told plant workers gathered in a tent at the base of two giant cooling towers, which emitted plumes of steam while he spoke.

As the price of gasoline has passed $3 a gallon in many parts of the country, Bush is putting a spotlight on one of the most controversial elements of the environmental and energy equation.

On March 28, 1979, a malfunctioning valve at Three Mile Island, about 50 miles west of here, led to a partial meltdown of the reactor core and releases of radioactive gases into the air. Coming within days of the release of the movie “The China Syndrome,” a fictional version of a similar incident, the accident at Three Mile Island made the facility -- now run by Exelon Corp., which also operates the Limerick site -- synonymous with the risk of contamination posed by nuclear power plants.

No deaths or injuries of workers or area residents were reported, but the incident, which allowed what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission called “only small off-site releases of radioactivity,” led to widespread concerns about the safety of nuclear power -- and a halt to the construction of new plants.

Against that history, and with the rise of oil prices and the growing worldwide demand for carbon-based fuels and electricity, Bush has embarked on an effort to ease the obstacles to reviving nuclear power. On Wednesday, he called it “an over-regulated industry.”

Citing the search for replacements for carbon-based fuels, Bush said that “nuclear power will help us deal with this issue.” Without the existing nuclear power plants, the United States’ electric plants would have emitted 28% more carbon dioxide in 2004, Bush said -- equivalent to the emissions of 136 million passenger cars.

Carbon dioxide is a key ingredient in the greenhouse gases that are blamed by many scientists for global warming.

“Nuclear power helps us protect the environment,” Bush said, drawing applause from the workers. The applause grew, and some employees whistled, when he added: “And nuclear power is safe. It is safe because of advances in science and engineering and plant design.”

Even before he spoke, his anticipated comments drew fire from environmentalists.

Thomas B. Cochran, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s nuclear program, said that as the nation resumed the debate over nuclear power, it needed to consider the cost of building new facilities, the potential that spent fuel could be used for nuclear weapons and the problems of radioactive waste disposal.

But Bush, presenting the broadest reasons for developing nuclear power, said, “For the sake of economic security and national security, the United States of America must aggressively move forward with the construction of nuclear power plants.”

Bush also visited a nuclear plant in Lusby, Md., last June.

The Limerick plant has received favorable reports from federal regulators, but has been involved in a controversy of another sort: With Pennsylvania contemplating opening casinos in two locations, a gaming company has expressed interest in a site nearly at the foot of the plant’s two giant cooling towers.

The plan has raised objections in the community, and it is facing competition from several other sites in the state’s eastern quarters.