Nuclear is going to make a comeback and here is an interesting piece that I just found suggesting that PKN is the best way to play this, not the other one:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/70461-invest-in-the-wna-nuclear-energy-index-with-powershares-new-etf

Posted: May 11, 2008

Stories about nuclear powers renaissance have been popping up for almost four years and virtually no new applications have been filed to build these impossibly capital intensive behemoths.
Americans, the most wasteful entities on the planet will do anything but address their own profligate habits. Whether it's using 25% of the worlds energy or permanently scarring Alberta for its tar sand fields and than stealing Canada's water on top of that, their voracious and corrupt way of life will ultimately relegate them to the Banana Republic they already are.

Posted: May 12, 2008

@Not Dick Cheney

Energy efficiency alone is not going to get us where we need to be, despite all the hype. If you want a vast, carbon free energy source than nuclear is the solution. Even a hydrogen economy relies on nuclear as the energy source needed to produce the hydrogen.

While renewable energy source are great, they also won't support the planet's needs. It's not just the US. Energy demand is soaring in the developing world. China is the second large emitter of greenhouse gases.

Posted: May 12, 2008

I don't disagree with your analysis but I'm saying in an environment where banks will have written down a trillion dollars in bad debts on mortgages I think it's doubtful that we will provide mulit-billion financing for projects that have been marred by cost overruns, bankrupt utilities and future uncertainty on regulatory and environmental issues.

But seriously, if the President of the United States ordered every National Laboratories from Livermore down to work on nothing but energy issues and come up with commercial viable alternatives to the present mix in 24 months, do you doubt that they couldn't come up with something?

If a President had the balls to send 1500 FBI agents into the headquarters of the major US oil companies to seize patents and other research they have been holding in secret for the last 40 years concerning energy alternatives, do you have ay doubt that they would find something?

China has 5 times the population of the US, is the second largest manufacturer in the world and uses less than half the energy of the US. I think there is an ethical and economic basis for restricting consumption patterns in the US, but as you point out, that's only the beginning of the story.

Posted: May 12, 2008

@@ Go Nuclear :).

Financing is an issue. I say get out of Iraq and tell the Middle Eastern countries we are developing a crash course nuclear program over the next two years funded by what we were spending on the Iraq war. When news of that gets out, the price of oil will drop.

Take the billions we are spending every day on the war and use them to build 50 new reactors. New design reactors are extremely safe and are easier to build. Take some additional money and use them to accelerate research on fusion and other nuclear related technologies. Provide incentives for gas stations to begin switching to hydrogen. Crash program on hydrogen powered fuel cells.

Doing this, we untie the massive energy knot.

1. Provide security by moving away from Middle Eastern oil.

2. Drop the short term cost of oil based on the fear of a really viable alternative.

3. Stimulate R&D and the economy.

4. Prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

It can happen. I'm waiting for one of the candidates to show some bold leadership and vision. It's time for oilmen to leave the White House.

Posted: May 13, 2008

Hey...I've been waiting 35 years for "Energy Independence" you have at least an interesting framework for what could happen. But nothing does.

Just like the impending Social Security mess after Congress plundered the fund. Just like spending tens of billions on earmarks for roads to nowhere when the US has a $10 trillion national deficit. Just like every lie and irrational act of a corrupt and incompetent government.

So why does nothing happen. Isn't there an answer that runs deeper then our usual televisionary explanations of campaign contributions, oil lobbyists and media complicity?

Robert Anton Wilson said: If you can see Them...it's not Them.

So who is THEM?

Posted: May 13, 2008

Not sure who THEM is? Maybe it's green men from Mars.

But seriously, I've been trying to switch from oil to gas for the last five years but it never happens. THEM is us. We're naturally habit driven and tough to change.

It's why people still buy CDs when they can get MP3s for free.

Posted: May 14, 2008