NAM Advisory: Expanding nuclear capacity will spur growth of high-wage manufacturing jobs in America

By National Association of Manufacturers June 26, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) believes expanding America’s nuclear capacity is critical to creating essential, high-wage U.S. manufacturing jobs—and will help meet the nation’s growing energy demand.“Nuclear energy is a clean, reliable source of power that has the potential to create thousands of high-paying U.S. manufacturing jobs,” NAM President and CEO John Engler said at a news conference last week with the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition (CASEnergy Coalition). NAM and CASEnergy also released a new white paper, Job Creation in the Nuclear Renaissance , which examines the job growth potential for existing and future nuclear power plants in the next decade.“The United States has not built a nuclear plant in decades. The technical knowledge to construct and operate plants—and to design and manufacture key nuclear component—is retiring with the baby boomers, and America does not have the necessary skilled workers to replace them. A nuclear renaissance cannot happen without robust investment in the education and training of America’s current and future workforce,” said Engler.“We must continue to support the expansion of nuclear energy to maintain jobs and economic growth in America,” Engler added. “A robust economy demands more energy, even as we pursue alternative means such as conservation and efficiency. Failure to supply those increased energy demands will raise energy costs for manufacturers and consumers, and hurt our global competitiveness,” he said.Download the full CASEnergy white paper here :