| THIS WEEK ON |
| ||
|
Next week, President Bush is expected to unveil his administration's new energy policy. All indications are that that plan will include building many more power plants -- and some of those may use nuclear fuel. Although no new nuclear power plants have been proposed in the U.S. in over 25 years, remarks made by Vice President Cheney indicate that the current administration feels nuclear power is a viable option. Speaking to Larry King on CNN, Cheney said that "one of the great ways to deal with greenhouse gases is nuclear power plants. And if we go forward in developing these 1,300 new plants we think we'll need over the next 20 years, some of those probably ought to be nuclear." "With the gas prices rising as dramatically as they have, nuclear power looks like a pretty good alternative from an economic standpoint, if the permitting process is manageable and if we find a way to deal with the waste question," Cheney added. Opponents of nuclear power, however, challenge the technology's viability on economic, environmental, and safety grounds. "Far from being too cheap to meter, nuclear plants have inflicted extraordinary pain on electric companies, their stockholders, bondholders and customers," said David Lochbaum of the Union for Concerned Scientists. "In addition to unresolved safety and waste issues, nuclear plants have historically proven to be a poor investment. " In this hour of Science Friday, we'll take another look at nuclear
power. How economical is it? How safe is it? And where would we put
the waste? Call in with your thoughts and comments at 1-800-989-8255,
and share your opinions online in our Listeners'
Lounge (registration
required)
Guests: Eileen Supko David Lochbaum Books/Articles Discussed: Related Links: | |||
| Send questions, comments, suggestions about the site to producer@sciencefriday.com .
Host/Executive Producer/Editor of Science Friday: Ira Flatow Senior Producer of Science Friday: Karin Vergoth Executive web producer: Ira Flatow Web producer: Charles Bergquist
|