The Return of Nuclear Power
Pres. Obama has come out in favor of developing more nuclear power plants, and the public is warming up to the idea because of the climate change benefits of switching from coal. Hendrik Hertzberg looks at the politics of atomic power.
Hertzberg writes that the nuclear power industry is attracting strange bedfellows, including many Republicans and environmentalists.
"Such founding fathers of the environmental movement as Stewart Brand, the creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, and Patrick Moore, an early stalwart of Greenpeace, now support nukes. James Hansen, the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a climate-change prophet, favors the so-called fourth-generation nuclear systems, which would substantially reduce the amount of nuclear waste. Hans Blix, the former U.N. chief weapons inspector, is another supporter. So, within limits, are liberal senators like John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. And so is President Obama."
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People not warming up
For every article that says people are warming up to nuclear power, there is another that says people aren't. The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant leaks and subsequent recent shutdown is a example of why these plants present a public health hazard.