CHITRA GOPALAKRISHNAN WASHINGTON DC

It is celebration time for the nuclear power industry in usa . The cause celebre: the national energy policy unveiled by President Bush on May 18 gives the go-ahead for nuclear reactor construction after 25 years of abstinence. Arguing that nuclear power is cheap, clean, safe, and a plentiful energy source, the plan recommends revitalising the industry that currently produces one-fifth of usa 's electricity. To jerk it out of its near-comatose stage, it proposes to streamline the regulatory process for building new reactors; extend the life of as many as103 existing plants, reconsider the reprocessing and use of plutonium, and renew the law that limits liability on the industry for nuclear accidents.

In the build-up towards the Bush administration's energy transition policy, the advisors were essentially chosen from the mining, coal, oil and gas, electric and nuclear industries. It certainly has been a