Letters to the Editor
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I'm NOT a conservative or Republican...
but something seems not right here. I would like to see some data on the breakdown of these crazy costs. I suspect that a big chunk is in the safety systems required by the massive federal regulations of these plants. Don' get me wrong-the regulations are utterly necessary! American high pressure liquid cooled reactors are very efficient, and very dangerous as well. The French use less efficient, but much safer passive cooled reactors. If an American reactor (which is basically a submarine nuclear powerplant built up in size) fails, it melts down. If a French plant fails completely, it simply shuts itself down.
I think there is a role for rational nuclear power, but the existing utilities are very unlikely to admit they've been wrong and copy the French (of all people...)