In my opinion, they aren't an eyesore. I quite like them. I appreciate the engineering. But that's a matter of personal preference.
I agree: Nuclear is better. Had we ignored the hippies and NIMBYs 40 years ago and just gotten on with it, we would have a whole lot less problems. Had we done the same 20, 10, 5 years ago things would be a lot better. If we got them to shut up and listen now we would have a long term solution.
Unfortunately, with the way our governments are setup, large scale nuclear that is able to lower costs is simply not viable. Politicians look out for themselves, not long term national interest. The people have a visceral negative reaction that we aren't changing any time soon. Also, we can only really trust nuclear with certain countries. How many "civilian nuclear programs" have actually been for enrichment?
In an ideal world, we would run everything on nuclear. But our world is messy and imperfect. Wind turbines are a improvement in coal/gas, at least until a certain point where the instability is no longer worth it.
Those of us who care about energy security, climate change, and practicality need to advocate for nuclear. But its unlikely the pro-nuclear side will succeed. It has a fossil fuel lobby, renewable lobby, and an easily-scared, highly-emotional electorate to overcome.
Renewable energy - wind, solar, etc - are imperfect, but they're also a lot easier to get built. There's no need to push against wind and solar when we should be advocating for nuclear.
I agree: Nuclear is better. Had we ignored the hippies and NIMBYs 40 years ago and just gotten on with it, we would have a whole lot less problems. Had we done the same 20, 10, 5 years ago things would be a lot better. If we got them to shut up and listen now we would have a long term solution.
Unfortunately, with the way our governments are setup, large scale nuclear that is able to lower costs is simply not viable. Politicians look out for themselves, not long term national interest. The people have a visceral negative reaction that we aren't changing any time soon. Also, we can only really trust nuclear with certain countries. How many "civilian nuclear programs" have actually been for enrichment?
In an ideal world, we would run everything on nuclear. But our world is messy and imperfect. Wind turbines are a improvement in coal/gas, at least until a certain point where the instability is no longer worth it.
Those of us who care about energy security, climate change, and practicality need to advocate for nuclear. But its unlikely the pro-nuclear side will succeed. It has a fossil fuel lobby, renewable lobby, and an easily-scared, highly-emotional electorate to overcome.
Renewable energy - wind, solar, etc - are imperfect, but they're also a lot easier to get built. There's no need to push against wind and solar when we should be advocating for nuclear.