> * Nuclear reactors are competitive in many countries, and in fact they are too in the US.

Illinois has one of the largest nuclear deployments in the US. Our latest climate legislation was drafted by Exelon, and provides massive subsidy in the form of carbon credits to the nuclear industry. And yet even with this, they have no plans to replace their 50-year old reactor fleet and no projected path forward for them except seeking another taxpayer bailout in a couple decades to again extend the life of these obsolete reactors. Nuclear is not competitive, period, unless you choose not to look at the full life-cycle.

Here's what the collective of nuclear advocates at MIT concluded[1], but I'm sure that's just "propaganda and misinformation spread by self righteous willfully ignorant individuals", too.

    For  a  large  expansion  of nuclear  power  to  suc-ceed, four critical problems must be overcome:

    * Cost. In deregulated markets, nuclear power is  not  now  cost  competitive  with  coal  and natural gas. However, plausible reductions by industry in capital cost, operation and maintenance  costs,  and  construction  time  could reduce  the  gap.  Carbon  emission  credits,  if enacted  by  government,  can  give  nuclear power a cost advantage.

    * Safety. Modern  reactor  designs  can  achieve  a very  low  risk  of  serious  accidents,  but  “best practices” in  construction  and  operation  are essential. We know little about the safety of the overall fuel cycle, beyond reactor operation.

    * Waste. Geological disposal is technically feasible but execution is yet to be demonstrated or  certain.  A  convincing  case  has  not  been made that the long-term waste management benefits   of   advanced,   closed   fuel   cycles involving reprocessing of spent fuel are out-weighed  by  the  short-term  risks  and  costs. Improvement in the open, once through fuelcycle  may  offer  waste  management  benefits as large as those claimed for the more expensive closed fuel cycles.

    * Proliferation. The current international safe-guards  regime  is  inadequate  to  meet  the security  challenges  of  the  expanded  nuclear deployment   contemplated   in   the   global growth   scenario.  The   reprocessing   system now  used  in  Europe, Japan, and  Russia  that involves separation and recycling of plutonium presents unwarranted proliferation risks.