How exactly can government be trusted to regulate the complex nuclear power industry when the regulation of coal mine safety has been such a disaster? Especially with the new wave of industry self regulation non-regulators.

The Clinton administration proposed extra air supplies, emergency communication equipment, and underground tracking for miners, but the Bush administration installed a crony coal industry lobbyist as head of mine safety who promptly killed those ideas.

The same ones now proposed by the state government in the latest mine disasters.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

I agree with amazing that the biggest reason NOT to go nuclear is that we don't have reliable, safe monitoring of industry practices. Yet, it is possible- look at the military- they manage to work with dangerous and complex technology with very few accidents. Oh sure, their unlimited budget may help, but from my experience, it's not the reason their system of training, regulation, and monitoring operations works so well. It's because of the well-established chain of command and clear designation of responsibility. Something we have yet to see in our system of government.

With the newer technologies, some scientists claim that nuclear reactors CAN be inherently safe (pebble-bed reactors can't melt down, and the sheilding can resist any conventional weaponry), and with breeder reactors, could provide clean energy and greatly reduced waste for a very long time. But it all hinges on a system to enforce regulations, which we don't have.

a liberal in redsville

--Mike GR

--
SUVs are squared-out minivans.

Let the nuclear industry build three plants only, at Yucca Mountain to process waste.  Run power lines to export the power to cities.

Let 'em prove they can turn over a new leaf, where the waste is already to be stored and an accident or leak would pose less risk.  

If industry  lobbyists and their crooked politicians have the power to force them down our throats, make them prove it's safe,efficient, and cost effective, with real oversight and regulation.  Before they are built in anyone's back yard.  

Make them eliminate all subsidies for nuclear (especially the liability waiver) and fossil fuel and use a large portion of the savings to subsidize solar and wind for homeowners and small businesses.  And subsidize large scale wind and solar, electric cars, and geothermal heat pumps.

At the end of 10 years drop the subsidies completely.

Then  let regulators and independent scientists  show the results of their waste processing developments so an informed decision can be made, based on cost of fuel, waste, and decommisioning, and safety; on wether to build more nuclear plants.

Or wether to build more wind, solar, and electric transportation instead.  Give the criminally negligent nuclear power industry/government cabal another chance, in order to get what we want.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

Yucca or not, I'm worried. If you just 'turn them loose' and see what happens, they could screw up and hide the evidence. No, it would need to be scrutinized at every step along the way. And if you took away the huge subsidies, they would cut corners at the expense of saftey and back-up systems. They've done this over and over again, and the regulators let them get away with it.

Maybe we should build trial facilities, but to do it right, they have to spare no expense and follow the best advice. From what I've heard, nuclear just isn't economically sound- the investment is huge, and so is the cost of monitoring and dealing with waste materials.

But then oil wouldn't be so cheap if we paid for the environmental and political costs at the pump. The only reason for risking nuclear energy is if the quasi-enviro's are right, and we have to accept that Americans will never give up their hog-ish ways.

The only things that feel right to me are reducing energy needs and subsidizing the implementation of solar, wind, wave, and geo-thermal. Give them the same chance that oil and coal got, except pay the true cost now instead of dumping it on future generations.

a liberal in redsville