"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Lowell Holmes wrote:

The whole world is using atomic power plants, but
our legislatures know better and we can't do it.

The US has something like 65 commercial power reactors in operation,
that's in addition to numerous research reactors, military reactors,
etc. That's about as many as in the entire EU. The only other single
nation which has anything approaching that number of working reactors
is Japan.


I suggest you look at France as an example of nuclear power generation and
usage, especially the French company Areva
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areva). As of 2002 there were 59 nuclear
power plants in France, generating about 79% of the country's usage, plus
significant exports. As of 2005, there were 104 licensed nuclear power
plants in the U.S. 103 of which were in operation, generating about 20% of
electrical power used. "In the USA, AREVA is present in 40 locations across
20 states and employs 5,000 people. AREVA supplies network products to
two-thirds of all US utilities. Moreover, AREVA was ranked the #1 US
supplier in nuclear energy products and services, in Energy Management
Systems and in Energy Market Systems. Its US headquarters are located in
Bethesda, MD.

You might find the following of interest:
"At the time of the 1973 oil crisis, most of France's electricity came from
foreign oil. France was strong in heavy engineering capabilities, but had
few indigenous energy resources,[2] so the French government decided to
invest heavily in nuclear power, and France installed 56 reactors over the
next 15 years.[7] President of Electricite de France Laurent Striker said,
"France chose nuclear because we have no oil, gas or coal resources, and
recent events have only reinforced the wisdom of our choice".[9]

Areva NC claims that, due to their reliance on nuclear power, France's
carbon emissions per kWh are less than 1/10 that of Germany and the UK, and
1/13 that of Denmark, which has no nuclear plants. Its emissions of nitrogen
oxide and sulfur dioxide have been reduced by 70% over 20 years, even though
the total power output has tripled in that time.

French environmentalist Bruno Comby started the group Environmentalists For
Nuclear Energy, and says, "If well-managed, nuclear energy is very clean,
does not create polluting gases in the atmosphere, produces very little
waste and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect"."