WSJ: America Needs a Nuclear Revival

In a book review in today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required), William Tucker writes:

For far too long, America's political culture has treated nuclear power with timidity, still traumatized by the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 and the dire predictions, ever since, of environmental extremists for whom nuclear power spells catastrophe.

Nuclear-reactor construction has ground to a halt. But all the while, existing nuclear reactors keep doing a splendid job of creating clean energy -- and they are making huge amounts of money. (Connecticut has just proposed a windfall profits tax on them!) With more than a dozen energy companies now lined up to apply for new licenses before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we may be a lot closer to a nuclear revival than anyone thinks. The last piece of the puzzle will be an enhanced public understanding of what the true options are. "Kicking the Carbon Habit" is a great place to kick-start the debate and cool down the rhetoric.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Energy, Technology, Environment, Electricity, GHG