Nuclear power will be a lot better prospect once one of those Western states agrees to let the rest of the country store our spent fuel in their state underground. As I understand it they worry that a major earthquake could cause leakage into the ground water.
I used to be like you, living on the East coast and thinking of the rest of the country as "those Western states". I've heard that even people in the federal government talk about getting rid of nuclear waste "out west". But once you actually live in one of those western states, the idea of being a nuclear fuel dump for the rest of the country doesn't look so attractive.
Another big lie is about nuclear waste. The waste need to provide energy for a family of four or 20 years would fit in a shoe box. If it is recycled the waste would be reduced to a the size of a cigarette pack. ALSO, because of half-life decay it is only really dangerous to living things for about 20 years. After that the radioactivity drops to background levels.