Some Republicans, however, said that the announcement would have little effect on their votes.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for the Republican Senate leader,
Mitch McConnell, said that Mr. McConnell had repeatedly praised Mr. Obama for favoring additional loan guarantees for nuclear power plants. But, he said, this would not translate into support for a cap on carbon dioxide emissions.
“It won’t cause Republicans to support the national energy tax,” Mr. Stewart said.
He added that Republican and Democratic ideas on energy policy overlapped in some areas, but that much of Mr. Obama’s energy program did not fall into those areas.
Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said that she thought nuclear power was “a core component of a comprehensive energy plan,” but that she would vote on an energy bill as a whole.
“One or two provisions aren’t going to offset bad provisions,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/energy-environment/17nukes.html?partner=rss&emc=rss