The State of the Union Address was a focus of curiosity last week as the President and his party traded opinions and barbs with his ascendant foes, the Democrats. But one thing that they could all agree on was the need to foster a new energy policy-one that is both clean and less dependent on our enemies.

Speaking before the fully assembled government, President Bush noted, "We must continue changing the way America generates electrical power-by even greater use of clean coal technology, solar and wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power."

Those sentiments were applauded by both sides of the aisle and in no small measure they pushed the nuclear power industry that much closer to its rebirth.

But this is a process that began not so much with a speech as it did an earlier act of Congress. That's because this revival really began in earnest with the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

In it, the seeds of the industry's rebirth were sown. Specifically, the 2005 act provided the nuclear industry the following:

• $3 billion in research subsidies
• Over $3 billion in construction subsidies for new nuclear power plants
• Nearly $6 billion in operating tax credits
• Over $1 billion in subsidies to decommission old plants
• A 20-year extension of liability caps for accidents at nuclear plants
• Federal loan guarantees for the construction of new power plants

One company that stands to benefit from these subsidies is General Electric (GE: NYSE).

The company is the leader in all things nuclear. In fact, GE generates nearly $1.5 billion a year from this portion of its business, and expects its market to grow about 5% a year from the new surge in sales of equipment and services related to nuclear power generation.

According to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), two of GE's advanced nuclear power plant designs have either received design certification by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or are in the process of being reviewed.

Joining GE in the design battle are two other names: Westinghouse and Areva (Paris: CIE.PA), a nuclear power giant owned by the French government.

Westinghouse's AP1000 design, a 1,150 megawatt plant, received its NRC approval in 1997, while Areva's new design, the 1,600 megawatt EPR, is slated to be submitted for approval this year.

These new plant designs represent a leap forward in technology that promise to be much safer and cleaner than the ones employed in the past. The newer reactors are designed with considerably fewer pipes, pumps and valves. That means that in the event of a problem, the safety of these reactors is largely passive and less reliant on workers.

Even so, building these new designs is a time-consuming endeavor. The process of licensing and building them is expected to take nine years. Four years of this are for the construction of the plant itself.

And while this process has been streamlined and improved over the years, the first new nuclear plants are not expected to come online until 2015.

In the near term, however, it is the existing nuclear power companies that promise to reap the rewards. Companies like Entergy (ETR: NYSE), Excelon (EXC: NYSE), and Dominion Resources (D: NYSE) are all major players in the industry and have been buying up existing nuclear plants at a discount in recent years.

The major roadblock to all of this projected renewal, however, is the thorny problem of what to do with the waste generated by both existing and proposed facilities. And that's where the Federal government comes into play, since it is responsible for storage and disposal of this waste under the Nuclear Waste Act of 1982.

At present, the government is still battling to develop a facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. But political wrangling over the site has delayed its development, even though it was originally slated to begin receiving waste in 1998.

Since then, numerous attempts at reaching a solution to this impasse have come under attack. But even these disagreements now seem solvable, since new "closed nuclear fuel cycle" technologies will recycle as much of the used fuel as possible.

One obstacle to progress is Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Reid has long opposed the development of Yucca Mountain. But given the new political realities of the energy situation and the time involved in bringing new plants online, industry officials are now more hopeful that this issue can be resolved over time.

With our perilous addiction to energy sources that are both dangerous and unstable, this cannot happen soon enough.

The President's speech may have been long and contentious, but in the end there was one thing that Democrats and Republicans could both agree on-a bold new energy strategy is needed, now more than ever.

"The way forward," the President said, "is through technology."

Part of that technological promise, of course, is nuclear-which means that the industry's revival is likely just around the corner. Investing in this trend promises to be both profitable and prudent.

Wishing you happiness, health, and wealth,

Steve Christ, Editor