The Obama administration — and a large number of politicians from both parties — have bought into the lie that nuclear power is a clean and cheap alternative to to oil and coal.
Nuke plants, they argue, generate loads of power without pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — which is an accurate if very limited argument.
Nuke plants require massive government subsidies and, more importantly from an environmental standpoint, they still pollute, though not in the manner in which we’re used to discussing. The mining for uranium, which fuels the plants, is far from clean. And, as a ruling today points out, disposing of the plants’ waste remains a problem.
WASHINGTON — After a legal challenge from the Christie administration, a federal appeals court on Friday threw out a rule that allows nuclear power plants to store radioactive waste at reactor sites for up to 60 years after a plant shuts down.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not fully evaluate the risks associated with long-term storage of nuclear waste.
The court said on-site storage has been “optimistically labeled” as temporary, but has stretched on for decades.
Nuclear waste — spent fuel rods — are radioactive and stored in outdoor pools, which can overheat and catch fire, as they did last year in Japan. Their disposal must be factored into any discussion, which makes nuclear power far less appealing — or it should.
The reality is there is no silver bullet for our energy needs. Every source has its flaws, some greater and more dangerous or costly than others. Sacrifice will be needed, with the most logical sacrifice requiring us to cut back on our consumption.
Hank Kalet 
Nuclear power is the poster boy for corporate welfare and the nanny state for billionaires. Nuclear power could not exist without tax payer money, federal subsidies, loans and other gifts to the billionaire CEOs who reap all the profits. Not to mention, if there is a big nuclear plant disaster or meltdown, the tax payers are on the hook for the massive clean up. Germany is weaning itself off of nuclear power, Austria is nuclear free, Belgium is phasing out nuclear power, Italy voted against nuclear power, New Zealand is a nuclear free zone. Nuclear power is a huge mistake.