U.S. Drafting Plan for Nuclear Energy Use

NPR | By David Kestenbaum

Published December 29, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST

The Department of Energy has been quietly working on a grand plan for nuclear power to be included in next year's budget. Ideas for the Global Nuclear Energy Initiative include reprocessing nuclear fuel so it can be re-used in reactors.

The United States abandoned reprocessing during the Ford and Carter administrations because it produced material that could be easily used in bombs. Critics also say it's too expensive.

David Kestenbaum

David Kestenbaum is a correspondent for NPR, covering science, energy issues and, most recently, the global economy for NPR's multimedia project Planet Money. David has been a science correspondent for NPR since 1999. He came to journalism the usual way — by getting a Ph.D. in physics first.

See stories by David Kestenbaum

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