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"This pitch could not be more poorly times," Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, told a hearing of the House International Relations Committee recently.

No time is good for these people.

Actually, this would be a good idea. It will help preserve the skills needed for nuclear plant construction in this country.

Actually, this would be a good idea. It will help preserve the skills needed for nuclear plant construction in this country.

Kim Jong Il and Ayatollah Khamanei also would like Westinghouse reactor. If they pay US dollars, they can employ many Americans too and preserve your skills. Brilliance!

Yes, I understand the jobs issue. However, I suspect that it won't be too long before the Chinese reverse engineer one of these and then sell a cheap copy to some unsavory dictator in an oil province or the like. There would go the jobs and there would be the proliferation.

Actually, this would be a good idea. It will help preserve the skills needed for nuclear plant construction in this country.

Would you be saying that if it was Clinton's VP who went to China with this sale plan? Just wondering.

If I recall correctly Westinghouse was able to get export restrictions lifted by Congress during Clinton's time. Close to that time Westinghouse Energy Systems was chopped up and sold, part to British Nuclear Fuels and part to the Washington Group. At this point the heavy manufacturing capability once resident in the US is gone. Westinghouse closed the steam generator facility in Pensacola several years ago announcing that if needed, new units would be manufactured overseas.

Chicago Bridge and Iron had a mammoth facility near Memphis that fabricated reactors. The equipment to bend 4" steel plate wasn't something that was common. I saw the surplus ad for that equipment. If it wasn't sold to an overseas buyer, it may have been scrapped.

The bottom line is that any new Nuclear Steam Supply Systems will consist of a large amount of foreign manufactured goods. We do have one factory, GE in Schnectady, that can still mnaufacturer larger turbine generators. Even for those the main rotor forgings are sourced from overseas. There is no foundry capable of producing forgings of that size left in the US. The last I heard GE got them from Austria.