Recommendations for a Department of Energy nuclear energy R and D agenda

On January 14, 1997, the President requested that his Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) make ``recommendations ... by October 1, 1997 on how to ensure that the United States has a program that addresses its energy and environmental needs for the next century.`` In its report, Federal Energy Research and Development for the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century, the PCAST Panel stated that ``the United States faces major energy-related challenges as it enters the twenty-first century`` and links these challenges to national economic and environmental well-being as well as to national security. The Panel concluded that ``Fission belongs in the R and D portfolio.`` In conjunction with this activity, the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, together with seven of the national laboratories, undertook a study to recommend nuclear energy R and D responses to the challenges and recommendations identified by the PCAST Panel. This seven-laboratory study included an analysis of past and present nuclear energy policies, current R and D activities, key issues, and alternative scenarios for domestic and global nuclear energy R and D programs and policies. The results are summarized. Nuclear power makes important contributions to the nation`s well-being that can be neither ignored nor easily replaced without significant environmental and economic costs, particularly in an energy future dominated by global energy growth but marked by significant uncertainties and potential instabilities. Future reliance on these contributions requires continuing past progress on the issues confronting nuclear power today: safety, waste management, proliferation, and economics. A strong nuclear energy agenda will enable the U.S. government to meet its three primary energy responsibilities: (1) respond to current needs; (2) prepare the country for anticipated future developments; and (3) safeguard the country from unexpected future events