Part of the reason that Germany continues to help Vladimir Putin fund his war in Ukraine, by buying large amounts of oil and gas, is that it nearly has eliminated its nuclear power industry.

Germany had 17 nuclear power plants in 2010, but had just three — still producing more than 13% of the country’s power — after three were decommissioned at the close of 2021 under a phase-out plan. The remaining three are scheduled to close this year but that has come under review amid pressure to find alternative’s to Putin’s oil.

That illuminates the Biden administration’s decision to hold off the closure of nuclear power plants in the United States as it, too, seeks alternatives to oil for strategic and environmental reasons.

Using $6 billion from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure program, the administration will establish a credit program to bolster power generators that otherwise would close nuclear plants for financial reasons.

The nation’s 94 nuclear power plants produce about 20% of the country’s electricity and more than 50% of its carbon-free electricity. No other carbon-free source can produce electricity on demand in the volumes that nuclear generations produce.

Federal policy should be not only to preserve current generation but to foster the development of more safe nuclear generation for environmental and energy security reasons.

The principal environmental concern with nuclear generation is safe disposal of spent fuel. The federal government finally should follow through on building a safe central repository for that material.

And it should embrace construction of a new generation of reactors with designs that enhance safety and partially answer the disposal problem.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre via TNS