[AtLast]

Until there are viable and safe ways to store nuclear waste from these plants, I don't think more should be built. I also think that a hell of a lot more effort needs to go into research and development of other kinds of energy production.

One of the major problems I see with nuclear energy is the energy companies that run them. They are profit driven and will cut corners if they can get away with it.

Also, after living near the Rancho Seco plant near Sacramento (closed for safety reasons upon the vote of the people living in that utility district) for many years and working with other clinicians that were part of insurance panels for the utility that ran it and learning of the amount of drug use of technicians working all those late and graveyard shifts there- I am not comfortable with the human resource development and training involved in these companies. This situation was found to be related to accidents occurring at that plant (all documented during the fight to close that plant). I'm not crazy for nuclear power, yet my problems with it are not about the science behind it really. This is part of the "human error" that can lead to accidents which is not related to the science and engineering of nuclear power. In fact, how many times do we hear something about the recommendations of the engineers and scientists being totally disregarded after plants are built? And it is usually about money.

After hearing about the very same kinds of shut-off valves that malfunctioned in the Gulf oil spill and the fact that new drilling being OK'ed with the same damn valve- I'm not trusting governmental regulations much these days (an certainly not what is going on with re-licensing aging nuclear plants). These factors are also involved in regulating nuclear power plants. The science is amazing, but, we are not going to have top-notch nuclear scientists running these plants. A lot of the jobs they create are not going to pay the big bucks to have the kind of people needed there 24/7. Many of these jobs are not technical in nature at all and semi-skilled. So, I am wondering about the human resource areas to this within companies that run these plants, including public utilities (that sometimes are farmed-out to the private sector).

I would like to see more done with our (USA) doing more in cutting down energy use all together. We waste so much! Hell, look at the mess we are in with plain old “garbage,” hazardous waste and e-waste! If we can’t deal with that effectively, how are we going to deal with nuclear waste? When I see lights on in empty room, it drives me nuts! Of course, I can still my Momma yelling "turn out the damn light" when leaving a room! Also, I really like living where there is decent public transit. I have made some fairly simple and inexpensive changes to my own home and seen quite a reduction in my utility bills-think of what we can accomplish if we had the money to install solar panels for hot water and buy only energy star efficient appliances. makes me nuts that these things are so expensive as my bet is that most people would do more to save energy if they could afford these things.