Nuclear Power Renaissance?

Is nuclear power on the comeback trail? Well like it or not it seems that is the case. Nations willing to take the risk to fight off the growth of global warming and to fight the high cost of conventional fuels are starting to warm up to the idea of using more nuclear energy in their power structure.

China has built 11 plants and has plan to build 30 more by the year 2020. England has shown interest in developing more nuclear power, and there are more than 100 plants on the drawing boards around the world with half of them in the so called developing nations of the world such as India, South Africa and Brazil.

“We are facing a nuclear renaissance,” Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of the French nuclear energy firm Areva, told an energy conference. “Nuclear’s not the devil any more. The devil is coal.”

Philippe Jamet, director of nuclear installation safety at the International Atomic Energy Agency, describes the industry’s record as “second to none.” Still, he says that countries new to or still learning about nuclear power “have to move down the learning curve, and they will learn from (their) mistakes.”

“Are there special concerns about the developing world? The answer is definitely yes,” said Carl Thayer, a Southeast Asia expert with the Australian Defense Force Academy.

Well from a government stance they see it as viable. I wonder if the public will rise up again and protest this or will they be too pained by high gas prices and such to give it any real thought this time around. Do we want to take the chance on these plants around the world?

What do you think?