{"id":1929734,"date":"2023-05-12T12:10:30","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T16:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-cut-nuclear-energy-funding-republicans-question-granholm-on-biden-budget\/"},"modified":"2023-05-12T12:14:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T16:14:12","slug":"why-cut-nuclear-energy-funding-republicans-question-granholm-on-biden-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-cut-nuclear-energy-funding-republicans-question-granholm-on-biden-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP queries Granholm on Biden budget&#8217;s nuclear energy funding cuts."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-cut-nuclear-energy-funding-republicans-question-granholm-on-biden-budget%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1929734&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Republican Lawmakers Question Energy Secretary on Nuclear Energy Funding and Russian Uranium<\/h2>\n<p>Republican lawmakers recently questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the place of nuclear energy in President Biden\u2019s proposed 2024 budget and America\u2019s continued reliance on enriched uranium from Russia. During a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, &#038; Grid Security, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) asked Granholm why nuclear energy funding was being cut, citing decreases in proposed spending on the department\u2019s nuclear programs. Granholm responded that the funding had been used to fund the advanced reactor demonstration program, which is now funded through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-signs-executive-order-to-mandate-greening-of-federal-vehicles-buildings-by-2050\/\" title=\"Biden Signs Executive Order to Mandate Greening of Federal Vehicles, Buildings by 2050\">bipartisan infrastructure law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Nuclear Energy Funding a Topic of Widespread Agreement<\/h3>\n<p>Rep. Duncan said nuclear energy is one topic that leads to \u201cwidespread agreement\u201d among Democrats and Republicans and across the Senate and the House of Representatives. Nuclear industry insiders and advocates have expressed a similar perspective, including consultant Mark Nelson of Radiant Energy Group and Ed McGinnis, CEO of the nuclear waste recycling startup Curio.<\/p>\n<h3>Questions on Energy Modality Mostly Came from One Party<\/h3>\n<p>Yet, questions on the energy modality mostly came from one party at the hearing. Against light protests from some Democrats, who argued that the Biden administration has shown a strong and continued commitment to nuclear energy, Duncan and his Republican colleagues continually pressed Granholm on the topic.<\/p>\n<h3>Granholm Prodded on Uranium<\/h3>\n<p>Duncan asked about the slow pace of movements to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-cut-nuclear-energy-funding-republicans-question-granholm-on-biden-budget\/\" title=\"GOP queries Granholm on Biden budget's nuclear energy funding cuts.\">produce high-assay low-enriched uranium<\/a> (HALEU) in the United States, which is critical to powering some advanced reactors. A February 2023 memorandum from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies was direct about the dismal state of play from the West\u2019s point of view: \u201cRussia is currently the only other country that produces HALEU.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Lawmakers Seek to Prohibit Uranium Imports from Russia<\/h3>\n<p>Earlier this session, lawmakers sought to prohibit uranium imports from Russia, through legislation introduced in the House and Senate. They argue it\u2019s consistent with last year\u2019s ban on Russian oil imports after the country invaded Ukraine. While the Senate uranium ban bill is bipartisan, drawing support from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and other Democrats alongside multiple Republicans, the House version only has Republican sponsorship, at least for now.<\/p>\n<h3>Granholm Hopes for Collaboration on Uranium Strategy<\/h3>\n<p>Granholm chose her words carefully in response to Duncan\u2019s HALEU questioning. \u201cWe need to do a whole project with respect to HALEU and uranium overall,\u201d she said. \u201cWe do not want to be reliant on Russia,\u201d she added. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who chairs the full committee, seemed frustrated as the Biden official avoided answering \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d to questions about a prospective ban on Russian uranium. \u201cI would certainly consider that if we developed our own supply. We want to be energy independent. We don\u2019t want to harm the existing [nuclear] fleet,\u201d Granholm said. She added that she hoped the administration and Congress could collaborate on a uranium strategy.<\/p>\n<h3>Progress on Reprocessing Technologies for Spent Nuclear Fuel<\/h3>\n<p>Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) asked Granholm about the government\u2019s progress on reprocessing technologies for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-warns-chernobyl-might-release-radioactive-substances-after-severed-power-connection\/\" title=\"Ukraine Warns Chernobyl Might Release Radioactive Substances After Severed Power Connection\">spent nuclear fuel<\/a>. She mentioned a program at the Idaho National Laboratory. \u201cIt is small-ish, not huge. I think it can be much larger,\u201d Granholm said. \u201cWhat\u2019s holding us back?\u201d Burgess asked. \u201cHistorically, it just hasn\u2019t been a huge priority,\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n<h3>Criticism of Republicans for Misrepresentations of Biden Administration\u2019s Attitude on Nuclear Energy<\/h3>\n<p>Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) criticized Republicans for what he characterized as misrepresentations of the Biden administration\u2019s attitude on nuclear, hydroelectricity, and other n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican lawmakers questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on the place of nuclear energy in President Biden\u2019s proposed 2024 budget and America\u2019s continued reliance on enriched uranium from Russia. \u201cWhy cut nuclear energy funding?\u201d Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) asked Granholm, citing decreases in proposed spending on the department\u2019s nuclear programs. \u201cThat funding had been used to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":1929735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[3620,12145,3862,4486,6513,6203,16195,4639,26601],"class_list":["post-1929734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-biden","tag-budgets","tag-cuts","tag-energy","tag-funding","tag-gop","tag-granholm","tag-nuclear","tag-queries"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1929734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1929735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1929734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1929734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1929734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}