re: #289 Thanos

What I gather from your previous writings is that you are not fond of the peak-oil-ers, yet I think they have a very good point about the cost of oil. More and more people chasing a petroleum-based economy will mean that eventually petroleum will be priced too high. Eventually that will happen to coal too.

For all the wonders of solar and wind, and I am a big supporter of both, the reality is that nuclear energy provides a more concentrated source of energy and thus is ideal for high-energy consumption regions (e.g., metal production and industry.)

Nuclear energy of some sort will remain attractive for several centuries. And with nuclear power comes nuclear engineering and science, and with the these will come the capability, if so desired, of developing weapons.

Iran, like any wanna-be-industrialized nation, will need nuclear energy if they want high energy production in small regions (though Iran would be good for solar, too.)

Even Saudi Arabia will find their oil supplies insufficient eventually, especially given their population explosion. Nuclear energy will seem attractive.

Any time someone uses uranium the possibility exists of making weapon grade material.

We’re not going to escape this by just looking the other way.