By Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Wednesday the department will establish a "blue ribbon" panel to develop a comprehensive plan this year to handle the disposal of radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants.
"I believe nuclear power is an essential part of our energy mix," Chu said at a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee. "It provides the clean base load generation of electricity."
The panel Chu plans to form would be responsible for creating a long-term U.S. nuclear strategy that would include permanent disposal of nuclear wastes. He said he hopes the panel will have a proposal available sometime this year.
U.S. President Barack Obama's budget plan, if approved, would put the brakes on the long-delayed proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Nuclear waste is currently stored at 121 temporary sites in 39 states across the country.
With Yucca Mountain shelved, lawmakers at the hearing pressed Chu on the administration's commitment to nuclear power and questioned whether any new nuclear plants could be licensed before a permanent waste disposal plan is established.
Chu said he did not believe scrapping the Yucca Mountain site would cause the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay licensing for nuclear plants because there are interim storage options available for wastes.
Separately, Chu reiterated that the United States must support the creation of technology that will mitigate the carbon emissions from coal.
"We have to develop clean coal technologies because India and China will not turn their back on coal," Chu said.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
