Nuclear Delusions

Expensive, Dangerous and Dirty
The Bush administration has quietly cleared the way to build 34 new nuclear reactors — the first since Jimmy Carter was president. Going nuclear, proponents say, will help free America from foreign oil — and reduce climate-warming pollution. "We're shooting for 300 reactors by 2050," said Clay Sell, the deputy energy secretary. But there are three major problems with nuclear energy: cost, safety and storage.

Cost
Construction cost per megawatt

		Wind $2.5 million
		Solar $3.6 million
		Nuclear $6.5 million

Storage
Nuclear waste from licensed reactors will soon exceed storage capacity at Yucca Mountain — a $96 billion facility that may never be approved.

Safety
Bush has weakened licensing rules and safety reviews — even though America's aging nukes are more dangerous than ever. In 2002, the Davis-Besse reactor in Ohio came within two-tenths of an inch — the width of three nickels — of a nuclear meltdown.