We expect growth in this area. Even though renewables are not expected to shoulder a large percentage of the load up to the 2030 timeframe, their development is beneficial, particularly in view of the CO 2 issue. There are now a number of proposed legislations in Congress to require that as part of deregulation, the utility industry must include a minimum percentage of renewable generation as part of any overall capacity addition. Some of the proposals include tax incentives. Therefore, it is very likely that the renewable option will be preserved through legislation.
Technology is at hand for the storage of nuclear spent fuels.
As such, the technical community bears the responsibility of doing a better job of educating the population to gain acceptance. It is a tall order, particularly in view of the fact that unlike France and Japan where nuclear energy is a large contributor, the U.S. has an abundance of indigenous fuels in coal and natural gas. Nevertheless, the nuclear option should be retained to preserve fuel diversity and to combat CO 2 increase. To this end, the nuclear industry needs to continue to improve on plant economics and operational reliability. For the near-term, life extension of existing plants is essential to preserve nuclear energy as a meaningful contributor to at least the 2020 timeframe with the existing fleet.