President Obama has selected one of my West Point classmates, Warren “Pete” Miller, Jr. to fill two posts that oversee two aspects of nuclear energy—the supply of the energy and the storing of its waste. Miller was nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy, and about a week later, he was also chosen to serve as director of Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Industry folks think Miller’s latter role will involve carrying out Obama’s wishes to end the controversial project to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The Senate confimed Miller for the first position last month, but his confirmation for the radioactive waste role has been held up. Pete is a very bright guy and was one of very few African-Americans at West Point at the time we were there—49 years ago today we were plebes. I hope that portends the beginning of a major push to build new nuclear energy plants all over the US—but, I fear that we’re going to be going the other way.
