WASHINGTON – Though he didn’t know all the details, Secretary of Energy-designate Steven Chu told a Senate committee Tuesday that the federal government has a “legal and moral” obligation to clean up Hanford and other sites contaminated during 50 years of nuclear weapons production.
“Cleanup of these materials is a complicated, expensive long-term project, but I pledge to you to do my best to accelerate these efforts in order to protect human health and the environment, and to return contaminated lands to beneficial use,” Chu said.
Chu, who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 and is currently director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, made the comments during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Chu is expected to easily win confirmation.
Under questioning from Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Chu said there should be a “significant” amount of additional cleanup money in a stimulus bill Congress is expected to consider in the coming weeks.
Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., have talked to Chu and other officials connected to the incoming administration about including $6 billion to $7 billion of cleanup money in the s timulus bill. How much of that would go to Hanford is unclear.
On another topic, Chu said he supported requests from the region’s lawmakers to double the Bonneville Power Administration’s borrowing authority from the federal treasury to upgrade transmission lines. The lines are needed to carry wind-generated electricity from Eastern Washington to the Puget Sound basin.
“I think expansion of transmission lines especially to carry alternative energy is something I support,” he said.
Chu said the incoming administration would show an increased commitment to alternative energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal, but also made clear that coal and nuclear would be part of the mix.
The new administration is also committed to “aggressively” increasing energy efficiency in appliances and buildings, will push for more fuel-efficient vehicles including plug-in hybrids and supports a more “robust” transmission and distribution system for electricity, Chu said.
But Chu said the Obama administration would support efforts to revitalize the nuclear energy industry, including developing a long-term plan to dispose of radioactive waste from the civilian reactors, would seek the “responsible” development of domestic oil and gas supplies and would invest in technology to capture and store carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Les Blumenthal: 202-383-0008
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