Three Mile Island may have been less catastrophic than first imagined, but it is still an undeniable fact that Putonium Is Forever. The serious potential damage from nuclear power is long-term and unavoidable, whether or not some nasty "accident" occurs in the short term.

The problem is that the sanest and safest energy alternatives, while truly economical, do not promise large and immediate profits to individual entrepreneurs ~ they promise relatively modest, albeit permanent, savings to everyone. So far, that has not provided sufficient economic incentive to get any truly paradigm-changing projects off the ground.