Responsible Nuclear Renaissance?

FYI: Students interested in what nuclear power is like in the real world would do well to read "Rad Decision", a novel on the subject written by a longtime engineer in the US nuclear industry. Rad Decisions covers the people, politics and technology from an inside perspective. The story isn't too bad either. Available at no cost to readers in episodic or download form at http://RadDecision.blogspot.com and also in paperback at online retailers.

Since the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor incidents, nuclear power plants have become much safer through out the world. It doesn't matter what country the a nuclear reactor is built it requires the approval of 35 different nations to be authorized.

With the buildup of nuclear waste, I would say finding a way to reuse that material would be a very cost effective practice.

France has been reprocessing spent nuclear fuel since 1966 and Great Britain is not only reprocessing their own, but for other countries, as well. Jimmy Carter established a national policy in 1977 prohibiting reprocessing in an effort to 'save the world from nuclear weapons'. This was a major set-back for US reprocessing plans.

I believe education and promotion of the zero-emission advantages of nuclear energy as well as the advantages of reprocessing could actually turn the environmentalist groups from 'no-nukes' to 'pro-nukes'.

Here in Minnesota, wind generators have taken over and littered the southwestern corner of the state. What was once beautiful rolling prairie is now scarred with thousands of noisy wind turbines that stretch for a hundred miles. Nuclear energy is still cheaper to produce. The utility companies offer 'blocks of wind energy' at an increased cost to make people feel environmentally responsible. The wind generators are more expensive to build per watt than nuclear, very high maintenance and have only proved to last 5 to 15 years. A reprocessing facility would be less invasive to the land and become an asset to US technology.