Obama's Nuke Buddies Join with French Firm to Cooperate "on Nuclear Power Matters"

January 3, 2009

Power Engineering - Electricite de France and Exelon have signed a 5-year agreement to cooperate on nuclear power matters. The memorandum of understanding covers managerial and technical matters such as outage management, fuel operations and equipment reliability. It specifically excludes "any joint venture or new build effort."

EdF is the main electrical utility in France and operates 58 nuclear reactors. Exelon is the largest nuclear power operator in the United States.

EdF has been making major efforts to be involved in the U.S. With Exelon, it is a party in NuStart Energy, the first of the consortia formed in 2004 to tap Department of Energy funding in preparing applications for combined construction and operating licenses for new nuclear power plants. NuStart has filed two COL applications and Exelon plans to file one in its own name.

Huffington Post, 2008 - Well isn't this a cozy little group: Obama, Exelon, and their consultant, Obama's main man David Axelrod. A partnership made in heaven for the nuclear giant Exelon, which has given "at least $227,000" to Obama's campaign that eventually got them legislation from the Illinois Senator written with their best interests in mind. . .

Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was "the only nuclear legislation that I've passed.". . .

A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks. . .

Frank M. Clark, executive vice president to Exelon, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director there, are among his largest fund-raisers, according to the Times. John W. Rowe, also an Obama contributor, is chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute, which is the nuclear power industry's lobbying group.