The following editorial appeared Thursday in the Tri-City Herald:

Give Larry Haler credit for having the courage to face a bit of ridicule for pursuing a future for nuclear power in the Tri-Cities.

For opponents, the Republican representative from Richland faces the anti-nuclear scoffers who gleaned all they know by watching Jane Fonda in The China Syndrome.

On his side he has the Department of Energy, the Congress and the president of the United States. Plus a whole lot of scientists and environmentalists worried about global warming.

Haler has introduced a resolution in the state Legislature asking Congress to consider Hanford for construction of a nuclear power plant that would test the next generation of nuclear technology.

Actually, that piece of technology probably is going to the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls.

But with Congress passing and the president signing an energy bill that encourages construction of new power reactors in the United States, Haler’s move is not just an empty gesture.

The bipartisan energy bill is designed in part to begin to rehabilitate nuclear energy.

Insiders say that because of the Bush administration’s recognition of nuclear power’s potential, the United States could see as many as 15 new commercial nuclear electrical generators built by 2020.

Skip Bowman of the Nuclear Energy Institute commended the president and Congress for their bipartisan effort, saying the law will help establish future energy supplies that are more secure, affordable and reliable.

Maybe Haler won’t be able to get the vote he wants on his resolution. But he will certainly get some of the attention for nuclear power that it deserves.