Tom Zoellner, former reporter for the Arizona Republic and author of the new book, "Uranium," makes an interesting argument in the Republic this morning. He notes that the federal economic stimulus package "contains not a dime of loan guarantees for nuclear plants," and that the Obama administration is stopping work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.
This is a double blow to utilities. They need federal backing if they are to seriously pursue construction of new plants.
Zoellner points out the problems with uranium mining past and present but also reminds us that the rich uranium deposits of northern Arizona and other areas on the Colorado Plateau [right, credit NASA] "one day may be considered a possible tool of deliverance from global warming."