It’s no secret that I have not supported the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, but I want to commend Rep. Joe Sestak for trying to make some lemonade out of those lemons with his amendment to the bill:

AMENDMENT TO HR 2454
OFFERED BY MR. SESTAK OF PENNSYLVANIA

Page 296, after line 6, insert the following new section:

SEC. 199. STUDY.

Not later than February 1, 2011, the Secretary of Energy shall transmit to the Congress a report showing the results of a study on the use of thorium-fueled nuclear reactors for national energy needs. Such report shall include a response to the International Atomic Energy Agency study entitled “Thorium fuel cycle – Potential benefits and challenges” (IAEA-TECDOC-1450).

Rep. Sestak’s office then issued a press release where they highlighted the importance of thorium and the value of this study:

The bill included an amendment proposed by the Congressman to require the Secretary of Energy to study how Thorium, a nuclear element, can be used to address our energy needs. The Congressman believes that nuclear energy needs to be part of our mid-term energy policy to increase domestic energy production and reduce our emissions. In addition, he understands that we must overcome nuclear waste issues. Under the amendment, Thorium could be used with or as a substitute for Uranium in nuclear reactors. Thorium-powered nuclear reactors have the potential to be more efficient and produce less than 1 percent of the waste of today’s Uranium nuclear reactors, while emitting no greenhouse gases. Using Thorium reactors do not breed plutonium, and can, in fact, be designed to “burn” plutonium into non-weapons grade material and, thus, decrease weapons proliferation. Additionally, Thorium nuclear reactors can help eliminate spent Uranium.

Thank you for your leadership, Rep. Sestak!