BBC News - Japan earthquake: Impact on US nuclear energy future?
He notes the comments of Senators Joe Lieberman and Chuck Schumer on Sunday urging caution when it comes to additional nuclear plants.
Mr Lieberman called for Congress to "put the brakes" on building nuclear capacity until the lessons from Japan can be assessed and absorbed.
Robert Alvarez, a nuclear expert at the Institute for Policy Studies, sees the current anti-government, anti-spending mood in Washington also working against the momentum on nuclear power.
"Given the combination of what is transpiring in Japan and the tremendous zeal, especially by the Tea Party element of the Republican party, to make deep cuts in the budget, I think the prospects for [the nuclear] loan guarantees are very dim."
But the most lasting impact of Japan is likely to be on America's existing nuclear facilities.
Political pressure for more stringent oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Committee, America's nuclear authority, is already mounting.
Democrats Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, who authored the 2009 climate bill, are calling for an investigation and hearings into the safety and preparedness of America's nuclear plants, 23 of which have similar designs to the Fukushima plant.