Top energy Republican: 'Premature' to compare Japan to Chernobyl

It's premature to compare the Japanese nuclear situation to the meltdown at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, the top Senate Republican on energy issues stressed Friday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, waged a defense of nuclear energy amid a crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, which has been at risk of a meltdown since an earthquake and tsunami last week.

"Some have compared the event to Chernobyl and declared the nuclear power renaissance dead. But that comparison is incorrect and the prediction premature," Murkowski wrote in an opinion piece for CNN.com. "I believe nuclear power will continue to be a viable energy source in this country for decades to come."

The situation in Japan had prompted evacuations by Americans and Japanese from the areas near the Daiichi plant, over fears of elevated radiation levels. Japanese workers have struggled to cool fuel rods after power at the plant was knocked out, prompting concerns about a meltdown, and renewed questions about the safety of nuclear power.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Murkowski's Democratic counterpart in the House, made a direct comparison to the 1986 nuclear disaster earlier this week.

"I think we have to have a lot of pause after what's happened in Japan," he said. "They're looking like Chernobyl, or close to it at the moment."

Other lawmakers, including many Republicans who favor increased nuclear energy production, have been more cautious in their assessments. Murkowski warned against using the Japanese situation for political purposes.

"There will almost certainly be lessons learned from the Daiichi event that can be incorporated into U.S. operations," she said. "Right now, however, the focus and priority need to be on stabilizing the Daiichi units and helping those who were so terribly affected by these natural disasters, not using the crisis to score political points."