It's insane that we haven't fully embraced nuclear power generation thanks in large part to the scare mongering from the so-called environmentalists. If the "climate change" fanatics really believed their own propaganda, they'd be pushing nuclear over fossil fuels... but, of course, it's always been more about fanning the hysteria and virtue signaling than about promoting a realistic and an effective energy infrastructure.
I think a major obstacle, beyond the bad image, is that these are inherently long-term, high fixed/sunk cost investments that span multiple administrations and can’t easily be attributed to one political entity
Yep, no doubt. That said, the US has managed bring online close to 100 operational nuclear reactors over the past ~50 yrs, generating close to 20% of the nation's electrical power. Notably though, there is only *one* currently under construction. The bureaucratic state has become so sclerotic that we're effectively frozen in time.
It's insane that we haven't fully embraced nuclear power generation thanks in large part to the scare mongering from the so-called environmentalists. If the "climate change" fanatics really believed their own propaganda, they'd be pushing nuclear over fossil fuels... but, of course, it's always been more about fanning the hysteria and virtue signaling than about promoting a realistic and an effective energy infrastructure.
I think a major obstacle, beyond the bad image, is that these are inherently long-term, high fixed/sunk cost investments that span multiple administrations and can’t easily be attributed to one political entity
Yep, no doubt. That said, the US has managed bring online close to 100 operational nuclear reactors over the past ~50 yrs, generating close to 20% of the nation's electrical power. Notably though, there is only *one* currently under construction. The bureaucratic state has become so sclerotic that we're effectively frozen in time.
That's more an indictment of our political systems than nuclear power, though.