House Republicans accused President Obama yesterday of talking a good game on nuclear energy but failing to back up his pro-reactor rhetoric with a solid fiscal 2013 budget proposal.

Republicans on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee criticized the administration's $770 million budget request for the Energy Department's Office of Nuclear Energy, a 10 percent drop from current spending levels.

Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) said in a hearing on the DOE nuclear budget that Obama's spending plan flies in the face of his call for an "all of the above" energy mix.

"There seems to be quite a gap between rhetorical support and support as reflected in your budget," he told Pete Lyons, the DOE's assistant secretary for nuclear energy.

Idaho Republican Mike Simpson also expressed disappointment with the funding request, asking why the administration is requesting only $65 million for developing small, modular reactors (SMRs) -- a technology DOE has endorsed. The request represents a decrease from the current spending level, $67 million and is part of DOE's request for $452 million over five years to develop a pair of designs for the small reactors.

"I thought we had decided on SMRs as the direction we were going to go," Simpson said. "Now I'm seeing a decrease in SMR funding. Wouldn't it be better if we had a steady budget for SMRs?"

Lyons defended the administration's support for nuclear energy and said the weak budget request was a result of his office being assigned an "austere target" for fiscal 2013. The tight financial target, he said, "has definitely led to very severe prioritization decisions and reductions in a number of areas."

Pennsylvania Democrat Chaka Fattah disagreed with Republicans' assertions and said the administration has been extremely supportive of nuclear power.

Fattah pointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval last month of plans for building the first new U.S. nuclear reactor in more than three decades. NRC voted 4-1 to grant Southern Co. a license to build and operate the reactors near Waynesboro, Ga.; Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited the site last month to show the administration's support.

"I don't know how we can say anything other than after 30 years of rhetoric, we have now got to the point where we're actually proceeding again," Fattah said.