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Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to support the nomination that we are soon to vote on, and that is the nomination of Dr. Kathryn Huff. She was nominated to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy at the Department of Energy.
Now, while I don't agree with her on many issues, she is a strong supporter of nuclear energy. She is well qualified for the position to which she has been nominated. She holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering and currently serves as a special adviser to the Energy Secretary.
Before joining the Department, Dr. Huff was an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also worked in our National Laboratories.
At her nomination hearing in early March, Dr. Huff testified:
It would be my honor to help the United States bolster and reclaim its global leadership in nuclear energy.
Now, more than ever, it is critical that the Department work diligently to make America energy-dominant again. Nuclear technology is essential to meeting America's energy, environmental, and national security objectives. We need to be looking for opportunities to expand our use of nuclear energy. Dr. Huff is ready and able to take on that responsibility.
Russia's army is funded by the sale of energy. That includes uranium. Russia accounts for one-third of the world's uranium conversion and half of the world's uranium enrichment capacity. It is our third largest supplier of uranium--for us in the United States.
Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine has opened the world's eyes. We can't be reliant on Russia. Now is the time for the United States to stop buying Russian uranium. Now is the time for the United States to ramp up our domestic uranium production. Dr. Huff recognizes that opportunity, and she is prepared to act.
The Department of Energy needs to take immediate action to establish a strategic uranium reserve. This is to ensure our existing reactors have the fuel that they need.
We also can't allow America's advanced reactor developers to be dependent on Russia. The Department of Energy needs to take immediate action to develop an American supply of high-assay, low-enriched uranium. To meet these challenges, we need experienced leadership in place at the Office of Nuclear Energy. Dr. Huff is up to that task. So I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her nomination.
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