Bush opens the door for nuclear reprocessing

With a mere four words in his State of the Union speech - "clean, safe nuclear energy" - President Bush has rekindled interest in an industry that has been out of favor for 25 years and could have long-reaching effects on Nevada.

Since the Three Mile Island meltdown in Pennsylvania in 1979, in which no one was hurt or killed and a small amount of radiation leaked, the nuclear-power industry has remained something of a pariah. Its promise as the leading source of electricity for the nation has faded.

Bush is looking to revive that promise as one part of his Advanced Energy Initiative, which in one long breath in his speech also managed to cover zero-emission coal-fired plants; solar and wind technology; hydrogen, electric and hybrid cars; and ethanol.

It was all part of his "addicted to oil" warning, and we welcome a broad look at how this country is going to meet its energy needs over the next 50 years. But it is the president's enthusiasm for nuclear energy that should bring both interest and concern from Nevadans.

One facet of Bush's nuclear proposal is likely to call for reprocessing of spent fuel, perhaps even importing it from other countries, in order to extract the remaining radioactive content for use in special reactors.

Even before Three Mile Island, the United States has banned reprocessing of radioactive fuel, so Bush will have a tough selling job to do. It takes a high-wire act to condemn Iran for possessing high-level plutonium while at the same time proposing to produce a fuel that is actually more powerful.

In the meantime, Nevadans can be encouraged by Bush's open-mindedness on reprocessing, because it signals a willingness to consider options other than piling radioactive waste inside Yucca Mountain. Unfortunately, there's no long-term alternative in sight.

The nuclear industry touts itself as "emission-free," which is true except for that small detail of the waste that remains potentially hazardous for thousands of years. Scientists need to be working on that detail, and a push from the president will surely help.