With oil and gas prices going up, Republicans vowed last week to forge ahead with plans to expand domestic energy production. "Why wouldn't we do a nuclear energy bill, as an example?" said House Speaker John Boehner.
"We want to find out why it takes so long to go from start to finish on a new nuclear reactor," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), who touted hearings this week with members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"Why does it take us 10-12 years and it takes the French and the Japanese four to five years?" Upton asked, as the GOP leadership argued that nuclear should be part of the "All of the Above" energy solution.
That was Thursday afternoon. Before the earthquake in Japan. Before a tsunami led to troubles at a number of Japanese nuclear power plants, raising questions about the option of expanding plans for nuclear energy in the U.S.
"This disaster serves to highlight both the fragility of nuclear power plants and the potential consequences," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) in a letter to the NRC, as Markey demanded to know if changes are needed in U.S. nuclear power plant emergency plans.
Backers of nuclear power were more restrained.
"The details of this tragedy are still unfolding," said Upton in a Saturday night press release, though he used his statement to "to reiterate our unwavering commitment to the safety of U.S. nuclear sites.”
So, instead of a Wednesday hearing that will focus on ways to get things moving in the U.S. on nuclear energy, look for critics of nuclear energy to be raising concerns about it, while backers will be on the defensive.
For years, nuclear energy has just sort of been in the background, as the words "Three Mile Island" still conjure up an image that has been difficult to overcome.
In February of 2010, President Obama offered up $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to help spur the construction of a new nuclear power plan near Augusta, Georgia.
It would be the first new nuclear plant in the U.S. in almost thirty years.
But one has to wonder whether that - and more nuclear power expansion - is now in limbo.
Just as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in a delay in the issuing of new offshore oil and gas drilling permits, it isn't too much of a stretch to think that any move in Congress on new nuclear power facilities might face more resistance now from lawmakers.
And the support of both President Obama and Republicans for nuclear power expansion might come under more scrutiny as well.
