When I was an apprentice there was a goverment edict that 20% of all U.K. ellectricity was to be generated by non fossil fuels. Nuclear was seen as the main contender as it would be cheap and clean! We were lied to! The cost of generating electricity by Nuclear has turned out to be the most expensive of all mainline generation types and we are nowhere near 20%! Forgetting about the finances for a moment we are left with a choice of disposing of radioactive waste OR acid rain.
Personaly I do not want eather!!
At the moment the other "mainline" choice is Wind Turbines but here in the U.K. we seem to be suffering from a bad case of nimbyism! There are other alternatives, but they are being starved of finance.
How about sinking underwater turbines into the gulfstream in the Irish sea (relativly shallow) or a barrage of "ducks" accros a major estuary or two? Now I am getting warmed up what about more Small Hydro plants. I have heard about the Norwegens (I think) drilling 4km down to tap their geothermal plants into an area where water becomes a superliquid (10 times the power output).
Don'y forget the cost/benefit is NOT JUST FINANCIAL