Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander has called for the construction of 100 more nuclear reactors over the next 20 years:

“It is an aggressive goal, but with presidential leadership it could happen,” the third-ranking Senate Republican told an economic and technology conference at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge.

“I am convinced it should happen because conservation and nuclear power are the only real alternatives we have today to produce enough low-cost, reliable, clean energy to clean the air, deal with climate change and keep good jobs from going overseas.”

Alexander said he would deliver that message this week speaking on the floor of the Senate, where he said all 40 Republicans and many Democrats support nuclear energy. He said he hopes President Barack Obama’s administration would embrace his call under efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

…and former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman says it can be done:

Does that sound like a realistic goal? Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman thinks so. 

“The industry has done that. It built four to five reactors a year in the ’60s and ’70s,” said Whitman during an interview with Greentech Media this morning. Whitman now co-chairs of a nuclear power advocacy group CASEnergy Coalition in Washington, D.C.

“People shouldn’t base their information on nuclear on Bart Simpson. That’s just not reality,” aid Whitman, referring to the popular cartoon character, whose father works as a safety inspector at a nuclear power plant.

Whitman said nuclear power could replace coal as the main source of electricity.