The idea is great, but the siting is not good. Put all nuclear plants in the deserts of Wy, Nv, NM, or MT, well away from cities. We now have nearly lossless superconductor cable that can transfer the electricity to whatever power grid needs it, all we need is high temperature superconductor interconnects. New superconducting cable has a core of stainless steel and is strong enough to withstand watever stresses it encounters (I was the first one to deposit fully superconducting thin films on stainless steel.)
As a side benefit, we can bury the cables (reduces heating) and run maglev trains atop the cables.
Sometimes we Americans are dumber than we should be.
Nucs have to be near a water source.
I seem to recall that President Bush recently said that we are very near tremendous leaps in energy technology. Your information is one example; the developments (both already realized and on the drawing board) in battery technology and energy storage technology is another. I think the President is right.
I would like to see plug-in electric vehicles with batteries recharged by nuclear power -- the reduction in demand for oil would decimate the price of oil and remove funding from the terrorists. I think this scenario is plausible, but probably twenty years down the road.
Instead of waiting for superconductive cable technology, use our existing site at the edge of Phoenix, currently running three reactors. There is room for another fifteen or so units. Just connect to the existing grid for regional reliability, then send us all the jobs those reactors can create.
Why bother?? The track record of even the old technology fission plants is superb, and the "fail-safe" designs on the drawing boards will be even better. Put'em underground right smack dab in the middle of urban areas, and use the waste heat to heat houses and for industry.
We do? I'd like to see a source for that.
>>>"The idea is great, but the siting is not good."
You must be talking about dam breaks, or the thousands dying from black lung disease.
Do you think people are falling over like flies from nuclear power generation in the U.S?
How many have there been? Let's see... (keep thinking)... (keep struggling)... Sorry, no deaths in U.S. due to nuclear power generation. Hopefully we can go to near 100 per cent non-mobile (car, truck, rail, plane) power generation from nuclear sources. It's cheaper and more environmentally benign. Even the tree huggers are coming around to this point.