Metchosin, forgot to say re the disposal of byproduct. Many of the nuclear operators (BNFL in particular) have busily stockpiled plutonium on the assumption that it can go into fast-breeder reactors. Except Chernobyl came along and suddenly no government was prepared to invest the time in telling people why Chernobyl couldn't happen to the new fast-breeder reactor round their way. So you've got this toxic stuff hanging around which would happily run nuclear power plants for ages and be changed in the process into stuff much less hazardous, but until someone builds the power plants then it's just a liability to be stored at significant cost, rather than an asset to be used. Basically the nuclear operators got screwed by political factors.

It's rather like stockpiling fuel oil for your boiler, and then finding out that no-one will sell you a boiler that runs on fuel oil, just bcos someone's tried welding a full tank and got burned in the subsequent eruption...

Graham.