Michael Giberson
Rebecca Smith, in the Wall Street Journal, surveys the current state of nuclear power’s future in the United States.
“Times are exciting for nuclear,” says Ronaldo Szilard, director of nuclear science and engineering at the Idaho National Lab, a part of the U.S. Energy Department. “There are lots of options being explored.”
But nuclear is far from a sure thing. Yes, the plants of tomorrow—some of which could enter construction as soon as 2012—go at least part way toward solving some of the problems of yesterday. But they are still more expensive than fossil-fuel plants, and they still generate waste that must be stored safely somewhere.
And while the industry is winning converts, plenty of powerful enemies remain.
Smith hits on the technology, costs, and politics of nuclear power.
(Thanks Chris)
Nuclear power IS the solution for the US as 40% of all power generated is used for homes and buildings – this could all be replaced with modern Nuclear plants. France, generally considered an environmentally friendly country, generates 85 % of its power using Nuclear Plants and they even export some of this power to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. We could really cut our dependency on unstable Arab oil imports and drastically reduce our Balance of Payments. Senator Edward Kennedy did a great disservice to this country by opposing the implementation of Nuclear Plants. We have exellent technology as proven by our Navy — why are all the Liberals trying to de-industrialize the US and kill millions of jobs and destroy our wealth generating capability !!!!