US leadership in nuclear energy and technology is critical to economic and national security with reliance on Russia “one of the most urgent security threats America faces right now”, House energy and commerce committee chair Cathy Rodgers said.

In her opening remarks at a House of Representatives subcommittee on energy, climate and grid security, Rodgers, a Washington republican, said the strategic threat to the US has intensified as a result of the war in Ukraine and called for “a renewed American commitment” to the nuclear industry.

She cited Europe’s energy needs as a warning sign of what could happen should the US fail to become more self-sufficient in its nuclear energy production.