Japan Disaster To Boost Shift To NatGas?

There are different 'degrees of disaster'. And while the Fukushima nuclear debacle may not be another Chernoble, it most certainly has reasonable people re-examining the wisdom of building more nuclear reactors. Whether you're 'for' or 'against' nuclear power, and whether you believe we can do it safely or not, there's still the question of, "Does it even make financial sense?"

Factoring in the initial costs of building a reactor, the inevitable cost overruns and add-ons, the costs of waging legal battles vs. the anti-nuke crowd, and the security & waste management involved, you wind up with numbers that are mind boggling. And now, after the Japanese incident, who knows what an insurance policy for a nuclear reactor will cost ... that is, if you can even get one.

At a time when nuclear power was seemingly getting a new lease on life, we have once again been reminded that we're no match for the awesome power of Mother Nature, be it earthquake, tsunami, or runaway nuclear reaction. Factor in human error and incompetence and it gets really dicey. Think it can't happen here? A while ago, it was discovered that one of our own nuclear reactors in California (earthquakes?) ran for 18 months with the facility unaware that the power had been shut off to the backup cooling system.

With the Middle East in turmoil, ever-more-costly oil supplies dwindling, nuclear shortcomings highlighted, and renewable energy sources decades away from reality, what are we left with? A huge supply of cheap natural gas right under our feet. And all we have to do is harvest it. What are we (our leaders) waiting for?