[Wonder Warthog]

"not to mention the little U238 atom. Safest means thus far with the least environmental impact other than solar, hydro and wind."

That would actually be the U235 atom (U-238 isn't fissionable). You CAN get fissile fuel from U-238 by "breeding" Pu-239, which IS fissionable. Hence the long-term need for breeder reactor technology.

Yeah, I'm being picky.

[RSmithOpt]

My bad...Uranium, Plutonium nuke tech mental lapse this morning. Breeders are neat in that, more 'waste' is created in some sense, but less raw material is needed for continued operation and on-site processing for 'new' fuel rods from the breeder can give to strict security controls of the material.

This is one point the enviro's will not discuss. Just don't locate any new plants in 50 year flood zones, close to active or dormant faults, known dormant volcanoes, hurricane prone areas basically, and provide tight security. In my book, not a problem at all. Just build the new ones with US made / quality controlled materials and skilled legal US labor forces.