American Nuclear Energy Plans: In the Wake of Japan's Devastating Earthquake

By now, the world is well aware of the devastating earthquake that struck Japan a little less than two weeks ago. The shaking not only affected the the physical ground, but the business and political grounds tied to the energy sector as well. President Obama still plans to invest approximately $36 billion toward his Nuclear power plant initiative in addition to the $18.5 billion already earmarked by the federal government. There are currently 104 Nuclear reactors in the US that provide 20% of the country's electricity. Mr. Obama's investment would add another 4-7 nuclear reactors to the US energy chessboard. Even with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant crisis still unfolding, some Capitol Hill insiders consider it highly unlikely that government officials will walk away from the planned US nuclear reactor investments.Pro-nuclear lobbyists have tremendous political leverage in Washington and their cooperation is deemed necessary for future energy initiatives to take place.

The PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) owned nuclear power plant in Diablo Canyon may have to re-evaluate their nuclear licensing procedures due to Japan's Earthquake. Furthermore, a January PG&E report disclosed that there was a previously undiscovered volcanic fault line located 1km off shore of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, according to Renewable Energy World.Japan's powerful tremor has many states and countries rethinking their energy positions.Though Japan was the country that experienced the earthquake, the rest of the world has still been massively impacted in one way or another as well.