During a time of much political division in the United States, Democrats and Republicans both support nuclear energy, but lack concensus on nuclear weapons, according to their 2024 party platforms.
Now that the Democrats and GOP have concluded their respective national conventions in Chicago and Milwaukee, Exchange Monitor scanned their policy platforms with an eye toward issues concerning the Department of Energy and its weapons complex.
Both major political parties publicly support nuclear energy. But the Democrats express misgivings about nuclear proliferation in the 21st century.
The GOP platform document gives a shout-out to nuclear power as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy. “Republicans will unleash Energy Production from all sources, including nuclear, to immediately slash Inflation and power American homes, cars, and factories with reliable, abundant, and affordable Energy.”
In their official platform, the Democrats link nuclear energy to part of a wider effort to reduce the economy’s reliance on carbon-emitting fossil fuels. “Recognizing the urgent need to decarbonize the power sector, our technology-neutral approach is inclusive of all zero-carbon technologies, including hydroelectric power, geothermal, existing and advanced nuclear, and carbon capture and storage.”
The Democrats go on to say they support “advanced nuclear that eliminates [or at least reduces] waste associated with conventional nuclear technology.”
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, recently signed into law a bipartisan bill to encourage new nuclear development.. It marks one of the bigger public victories for U.S. nuclear power since the March 1979 partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 in Pennsylvania.
The Democrats also go on to endorse expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act “to include those harmed by our nation’s nuclear weapons efforts including uranium miners.” A bill to renew and expand the law passed the Senate this year with bipartisan support but has not come up for a vote in the House.
If size matters, it could be noted the Democratic Party platform is 94 pages long, while the Republican Party document is 28 pages.
The Democrats also stress restraint on nuclear weapons.
“Democrats believe that the sole purpose of our nuclear arsenal should be to deter—and, if necessary, retaliate against—a nuclear attack,” according to the platform. “The [Republican Donald] Trump administration’s proposal to build new nuclear weapons is unnecessary, wasteful, and indefensible.”
“Just as was the case during the height of the Cold War, it’s in our interest to work with Russia to verifiably limit and reduce our nuclear stockpiles,” according to the Democrats platform.
“The policy of the Republican Party must be to ensure that America’s military is the strongest and best-equipped in the world—and that our government uses that great strength sparingly, and only in clear instances where our national Interests are threatened,” according to the GOP platform. The document does not lay out nuclear weapons issues specifically.