Nuclear or Renewables? Why not both?

The blogger City Hippy wants to know why anyone would want a nuclear power plant in their backyard:

[W]hat if someone wanted a Nuclear power plant in THEIR backyard???

I had a chat with a friend the other day...he is convinced Nuclear is the Green solution, our salvation to climate change. When I asked him if he would have a Nuclear power plant in his backyard he surprisingly said yes. That makes him nuts in my eyes. Why choose a Nuclear power plant when you can just have some harmless wind turbines in your garden or on your roof.

Actually, there are more people who feel this way than you might think. According to a recent survey conducted for NEI by Bisconti Research, 76% of people living within 10 miles of an existing nuclear power plant are willing to have a new reactor built near them.

Other findings of the survey:

• 83% favor nuclear energy;
• 85% give the nearest nuclear power plant a “high” safety rating;
• 88% are confident that the company operating the plant can do so safely.

And now that it looks like a new phase of reactor build may be just around the corner, municipalities that already have a nuclear power plant are clamoring to get another -- like Oswego, New York.

But Oswego isn't the only one. Click here for a list of cities and states that have passed resolutions in support of new nuclear build in their own backyards.

One last note: Saying that the world has to decide between nuclear energy or renewables is a false choice. The fact of the matter remains that future energy demand will rise so much, that there will be more than enough room for nuclear energy and renewables in the marketplace. It's just that over the next few decades, we're going to need baseload power generation, and right now, the only technology that can provide that baseload power is nuclear energy.

UPDATE: Opinion is shifting overseas as well. From Time's European edition:

Opinion surveys commissioned by Areva for internal use show that nuclear's reputation has been improving. As recently as 2002, more people stressed the drawbacks of nuclear power rather than its advantages, according to the surveys. But that trend has reversed, and a clear majority now cites the pros rather than the cons. Critically, the surveys show that most respondents say concern about greenhouse gases and climate change are the key reasons for their views.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Energy, Electricity, Environment