In early stages nuclear plants are extremely expensive. According to OECD the “overnight cost” (calculation of all costs present and future) for nuclear plants under their control is anywhere between $3850/kWe to $5339/kWe. These costs directly affect the US and every tax paying citizen because it's paid for through tax money. Matt Bivens of TheNation.Com talks about how in the event that a nuclear plant is involved in a catastrophic event and peoples homes are destroyed, insurance wont pay for the damages. Thats because of the Price Anderson act. This act restricts nuclear plants accountability and reliability to less than a fraction of damage costs. Again, that leaves the taxpayers to pick up the slack because the insurance companies because the nuclear companies are not liable.
Discovery’s Joanna Burgess makes a good point when she says that no energy is one hundred percent clean. Although like everything nuclear energy has its flaws, including the fact that there is no way that the waste can be disposed and the unsecured mentality of plants operation. The reaction that occurs in the plant happens between and atom splitting and combining with others, which in turn leaves waste. There’s no place for the waste to be disposed, it has to be stored. That leads to the opportunity for contamination for the population at large. With over 6 dozen operating plants in the post 9/11 US, there is always a back-burner concern. Experts say that with the events of 9/11 there has always been the thought of nuclear destruction due from terrorist involvement but operators almost neglect the matter.
The International Energy Agency reports, the world demand for energy will grow 65 percent by 2020 ([source: NCPA] Discovery; Burgess). That means nothing is changing. In