Nuclear Energy: Nightmare or Energy Independence Answer?

Energy independence, like I wrote in my previous blog post, is an important issue for a variety of reasons ranging from national security to environmental concerns.  One alternative that has been proposed to make the U.S. less dependent on fossil fuels is through nuclear energy.  After all, it is in abundance already and is an alternative to oil, natural gas, and coal.

President Obama is a big fan of nuclear energy. His administration proposed "an additional $54 billion in loan guarantees" to the nuclear industry. Nuclear energy is feasible and doable at least from a numbers standpoint with the World Nuclear Energy Association reporting "The country's (U.S) 104 nuclear reactors produced 799 billion kWH in 2009, over 20% of total electrical output." The U.S. clearly faces a dilemma.  Should the U.S. reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by going with a potentially deadly energy source like nuclear power?

After all, there have been huge accidents in history at Chernobyl and in the U.S. at Three Mile Island.  Have the safety issues been taken care of or at least assuaged fears of another accident?  With the drive toward energy independence, even President Obama is seriously considering nuclear energy with his loan guarantees for new power plants.  Yet, no one has addressed the safety issues associated with the plants.  Before going full-fledged with nuclear, maybe it is time to evaluate what is different about the industry today that would prevent accidents such as Three Mile Island from ever happening again.

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