Official asks Congress to consider nuclear power

WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Secretary Steven Chu says Congress should consider including nuclear power and other nonrenewable sources in a mandate for utilities to use more clean energy.

Chu's call, made at a meeting on nuclear energy Tuesday, could help win over Republicans who have opposed a mandate focused exclusively on renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. Efforts to pass that mandate, known as a renewable electricity standard, have stalled in Congress.

The nuclear industry has been pushing an alternative clean energy standard. Chu said such a standard could include sources such as clean coal and nuclear, along with renewables.

Chu said a clean energy standard could set requirements at 25 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2050.