Alternative energy: Nuclear power makes a comeback

Darkfrog submitted, created time 2 months 2 weeks (www.nytimes.com)

Unlike countries such as France, which maintained a strong tradition of nuclear power throughout the latter twentieth century, the United States has not had an uncancelled commission for a nuclear power plant since 1973. The Arab oil embargo of that decade, as well as the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters, changed the economic and political climate in such a way that made nuclear plants less economically and politically viable.

Still there are over one hundred nuclear power plants in the greater U.S. that have remained in operation all these years

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Researchers suggest fuels pulled from the air, but there are problems

Darkfrog submitted, created time 10 months 3 weeks (dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com)

Drawing CO(2) from the air for fuel would be truly carbon-neutral. The catch here seems to be that the energy to do the drawing would have to come from somewhere. This particular lab suggests nuclear power, which is cleaner and safer than its public image would suggest but carries the attending problems of the time and money it takes to build facilities (and of bothering the Navajos again for their uranium, maybe after a few hundred years of not screwing them over). Other researchers at Columbia U. propose a solarthermal solution. Which seems more feasible to you guys?

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Nuclear-reactor closure hits cancer tests

jane2007 submitted, created time 1 year 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

Hospitals across North America have been forced to cancel tests for cancer and heart disease because the unexpected closure of a Canadian nuclear reactor has led to a sudden shortage of medical isotopes.
From the article we can know the "NRU reactor was to be decommissioned in 2005, but its operating licence was extended until problems with two replacement reactors",why it happened?

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