Wednesday, July 22, 2009

NRC Director to Speak at Lynchburg Energy Conference

By Ray Reed

Published: July 21, 2009

An energy conference featuring the director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be held in Lynchburg on Monday [July 27. 2009].

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th District, is sponsoring the conference, which will bring NRC Director Kristine Svinicki and two other speakers to Central Virginia Community College for the 10 a.m. event.

“This conference will have a lot of useful information about energy needs, about legislation in Congress, and three guest speakers, all of whom should be interesting,” Goodlatte said.

It also promises information about alternatives to the energy bill the House of Representatives passed in June, over Goodlatte’s opposition.

Although he’s in favor of developing new energy sources in the Democrat-backed bill, Goodlatte said, “it’s far too expensive to replace nuclear, coal and gas-powered vehicles.”

“Those are the sources of energy we are heavily dependent on in this country,” and “we’re going to be heavily reliant on them for years to come,” he said.

“Where the Democratic bill went off track was by raising the cost of utilizing them before we had anything to replace them with” in the form of proven and renewable green-energy sources, Goodlatte said.

Speakers, in addition to Svinicki and Goodlatte, will be Ben Lieberman of the Heritage Foundation and Timothy Davidick, an executive with ADM Micro Inc., an energy management company in Roanoke.

Goodlatte said he expected several energy-related companies to set up display tables at the conference, including Areva nuclear company, American Electric Power, Dominion Virginia Power, Innovative Wireless Technologies, Babcock & Wilcox Co. and Virginia Uranium Inc. of Pittsylvania County. A Toyota energy-efficient car will be on display, Goodlatte said.

Svinicki has been commissioner of the NRC since March 2008. She is a nuclear engineer and was a policy adviser for the Senate Armed Services Committee under former Sen. John Warner, R-Va.

She worked on defense science and technology programs, including nuclear weapons, security and environmental management programs.

Lieberman, a specialist in energy and environmental issues, frequently comments on TV news channels and advocates free-market solutions to rising energy prices while supporting access to domestic energy supplies.

Davidick heads up an ADM Micro initiative to help commercial properties upgrade their electricity metering and sustainable energy programs such as power from solar, wind and biofuel sources. The company provides systems that manage electricity use in stores, restaurants and government buildings.

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/nrc_director_to_speak_at_city_energy_conference/17878/

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