It may be that some groups do make political capital out of genuine concerns. I don't want to get into that political argument, but I doubt very much that it is the 'basic problem'. We have seen repeatedly in the past that large companies cannot be trusted to dispose of waste responsibly on their own - if indeed there are places which are near to 100% safe for disposal of nuclear wastes - especially in an age where persons could infiltrate 'safe' waste dumps and make them very, very unsafe. And there are plenty of instances where companies have hidden their spills rather than own up to the problem that caused them in the first place.
That aside, there is no reason not to do the research that may lead to the production of cost-effective nuclear energy with the danger factors accounted for as best they can be. Being reliant on other forms of energy has its own ecological dangers too, which should not be forgotten. No energy production is 100% 'safe' in every way.
Of course, if we could be a bit less wasteful in our use of the energy available, then we would solve most of the problems buttociated with energy production. With a little bit of effort, just about every household in this country could consume far less energy than it does.
Rifty -- Academic and Computing Help
