Is Nuclear Power Finally Back in Style?

The nuclear power industry was nearly knocked out with the 1-2 punch of the Three Mile Island accident and Jane Fonda's agitprop movie The China Syndrome. Both happened in 1979 and the industry hasn't been the same since despite not having a major incident in the U.S. since then.

Since our legislators won't let us use our own oil or mine more of our own coal to produce power, nuclear is suddenly gaining some much deserved respect:

Thirty years after the nation's worst nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island, U.S. lawmakers are back to praising nuclear power as a safe, alternative energy source to foreign oil.

When a nuclear reactor's water pump malfunctioned at the Three Mile plant near Harrisburg, Pa., on March 28, 1979, faith in nuclear energy shattered and the industry spiraled into a meltdown.

The accident caused nuclear power costs to skyrocket and prompted plans for new plants to be scrapped.

Now, three decades later, fears about climate change have prompted American leaders to once again tout nuclear power as a good source of energy and one that can wean the country off its dependence on oil from overseas.

Officials point to the fact that it's the only major form of power that is free of emissions, capable of generating large quantities of electricity and reliable and effective in all sorts of weather.

Lawmakers insist they've learned from the massive Three Mile Island mistake and have since been placing a greater emphasis on nuclear plant safety, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The industry has expanded by spending $4 billion and generating 15,000 jobs in recent years, Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Tom Kauffman told the newspaper. Seventeen companies have applied with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build 26 reactors.

I have lived within 20 miles of a nuclear power plant for the last 19 years. I've driven right by it hundreds of times an to my knowledge I still don't glow in the dark. It appears to be pretty safe.

The main problem with nuke plants is getting rid of the spent fuel rods and other contaminated parts. We had an ideal location in the wilds of Nevada that would have been perfect as a disposal site, but of course, our legislators won't let us use it. Some lizard somewhere might be harmed.

Unless we get some serious people in Congress who are smart enough to realize that it's foolish to lead the country to national suicide, nuclear will just be a handful of applications on some bureaucrat's desk. There may be a bunch of companies that want to build them, but the approval process is so lengthy and expensive, and the environwackos have so many judges in their pockets, it's highly unlikely another plant will be built without a major change of focus on the part of our leadership.