Candidates Go Nuclear

At a gubernatorial candidate forum put on last night by the Silicaon Valley Leadership Group, every major candidate from both parties embraced nuclear power! (Meg Whitman, a Republican, was a no-show because she was speaking at a conference in San Diego).

Politically, the issue was a no-brainer for Republicans Tom Campbell and Steve Poizner, but Democrats Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have to keep manage their liberal Democratic base which is decidedly anti-nukes. Newsom was the most cautious, giving a tortured political response about seeking solar and wind alternatives first, but not ruling out nuclear power entirely.

Currently, nuclear power accounts for 15% of Claifornia's power but there is a moratorium on new nuclear construction until we can come up with a solution to the problem of storing nuclear waste.

Governor contenders toss around nuclear power [San Francisco Chronicle]