Recent events in the Middle-East have brought this topic into focus again.
Israel can be described as a land that:
- has problems getting along with it's neighbors;
-is a modern, liberal society;
- has virtually no local energy resources; and,
-has areas 1000 ft below sea level.
So, here are the varios energy sources, and the popular Israeli reaction to them:
HYDRO- Not many rivers of any size. A hydro-power 'tunnel' from the Med to the Dead Sea was nixed because "we don't know what bad ecological things will happen if we add water to the valley;"
NUCLEAR- Not with all those pesky terrorists around!;
COAL- Messy, polluting, ugly piles, and there isn't any there anyway; and,
OIL- Polluting- and look who we have to buy it from!
End result: Israeli development is limited by severly constrained by a lack of available power. And you can't blame some "Anti-Semitic conspiracy;" the opponents to any increased power production are non other than fellow Israelis!.
This again shows how the "Nuclear issue" long ago left the arena of ideas, and entered the Twilight Zone.
Considering all, I'll take my chances with the PoCo geeks and paper-pushers.... rather than the self-appointed saviours who ask me to lie down in front of trains, while endorsing the nuclear dreams of some third-world tyrant (whose country floats on a sea of oil!)
