For sure, but here on earth I think the main barrier is cost. Peak uranium will make reprocessing more economically viable
within the nuclear industry, but my guess is that as peak oil, gas, and coal eventually kick in over the next few decades the true cost of
energy systems is going to become far more apparent. As solar thermal plants scale up, economies of scale really start to kick in and companies like Ausra in California are promising baseload solar
competetive-with-coal sometime soonish.
So while reprocessed uranium may sound like a great idea, but maybe it only makes economic sense on Mars? And then we've got to get it there. Cost, cost, cost.
Part of me still wonders if Polywell will prove to be almost as good as Back to the Future's Mr Fusion, but we will see.
Polywell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As I said above, we're inching forward in all sorts of areas and it only takes a breakthrough in one area to have massive implications in other industries. So giant artificial magnetosphere's, balloon assisted floating atmospheric "wraps" or even deep underground civilisations may be possible in 100 years. We shall see. We've got to get through peak oil and overpopulation here first though!
(Yes there's plenty of types of renewable energy, but most of them produce electricity not liquid fuels. We face a massive and serious liquid fuels and transport crisis in the next few years, probably leading to a Greater Depression... but
decades after that our grandchildren will be living in cleaner, greener cities... and who knows what they will achieve?)
