The unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan at reactors damaged by a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami has led some lawmakers to call for the United States to "put the brakes" on domestic nuclear development.
"I've been a big supporter of nuclear power because it's domestic - it's ours and it's clean," influential Senator Joseph Lieberman told the CBS News television program "Face The Nation" Sunday.
Nevertheless "I think we've got to ... quietly and quickly put the brakes on until we can absorb what has happened in Japan as a result of the earthquake and the tsunami," said Lieberman, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Experts must then "see what more, if anything, we can demand of the new power plants that are coming online."
President Barack Obama wants to increase nuclear power as part of a US effort to decrease the nation's dependence on coal and foreign oil. The administration has allocated $18.5 bn in Department of Energy loans guarantees to spur nuclear development.
The Obama administration "is committed to the re-launching of the nuclear power industry as a key part of moving the country to a clean energy economy," a US official told AFP in December.
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