Gallup: For First Time, Majority in U.S. Oppose Nuclear Energy.

[DINGO Joe]

The decline was sharpest among Republicans, maybe it's a "I only want to burn coal because Obamies against it"  thing.

It should be noted that all of the 5.5 GW of nuclear under construction are in the region (Southeast) mainly served by Appalachian coal, so there go even more WV coal jobs.

On a tangent, I have a really cool 1930s full page newspaper ad that a coal company took out opposing the TVA because it would cost Pennsylvania miners their jobs.

[DINGO Joe]

Most of the disagreements on this issue, especially in this country, are based on scare-tactics by professional anti-nuclear activists. It's by far the safest, most reliable, and most cost-effective way to keep our country lit without relying on increasingly scarce and environmentally damaging fossil fuels and coal.

Agreed. Their efforts have held nuclear energy research back decades. The older plants were more vulnerable to issues/meltdowns but there are much safer generation III+ plants/designs that mitigate a lot of these issues and even research into generation IV designs that eliminate the risk of a meltdown entirely, such as MSRs.

These yuppies have set back what were, and still are, extremely promising candidates for clean energy, all based on this ignorant view that somehow because some older, sometimes poorly designed plants had meltdowns decades ago, that it can never be safe. Many early versions of our commonly used technologies weren't safe to start with, either.

I'm dubious about the assertion that nuclear energy research has been held back decades , or at all for that matter.  Really, the issue with nuclear still seems to be affordability both Vogtle and Sumner seem awfully pricey and continue to have issue with being built in a timely manner--adding even more to the cost.  Really, wind, solar and CC NG plants seem the way to go right now in the US (along with efficiency).  Maybe there will be a breakthrough in Nuclear, maybe there will one in battery storage, but right now those should be the big three.

[DINGO Joe]

I don't think you can view the lack of a breakthrough as proof that research is lacking--I have no idea how govt or private  funding of nuclear research compares to past funding, but it certainly exists.  Even if the US weren't to embrace it,  I think the incentive still exists in the supposition that the Chinese will try anything, and there's money to be made off of that. (You could say similar things about "clean coal" research too) Also, while there haven't been any new nuclear plants in the US for some time there have been advancements in extending the life of current plants and several successful uprating projects.  There's also been the notable failure of SONGS out in California.