Megan McArdle is in southeast Asia right now. She has an interesting observation about growing energy needs in the developing world. Why not consider helping countries with growing pressure on energy access build nuclear power?
Here in the US the concerns about nuclear are obviously safety, proliferation, waste, and cost. But as far as safety goes, are we most worried because of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl? If so, it is relevant that no new plants have been built here in the last 25 years or so. Lots of technology has been developed in the interim. As far as international development goes, I don't see why we should shy away from a carbon free solution when the alternative is coal (renewables just won't fill capacity demands). Evidently, French companies have built and managed nuclear power plants in China; is there a compelling reason this would not work in other (developing) countries?
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I'm not sure that Enron's adventures in India helped the perception of US companies building nuclear power plants overseas.
I also think the most pressing concerns about nuclear do not relate to safety, but rather cost and what to do with the waste. Good idea to keep all options on the table though.
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