For my first blog entry I would like to say how important I think nuclear power is. I live within a few miles of a nuclear power plant and the electric grid I get my power from has even more nuclear power plants. This allows me to enjoy reasonably priced electrical power at a time when many people have to pay outrageously high prices for their power. While this is important the future of humanity is even more important to me and nuclear power merges quite well with that future. Any shift from reliance on foreign oil will come about faster and cheaper with the help of nuclear power. Electric cars will only be viable with a cheap reliable source of power to generate hydrogen, nuclear power is that source. Contrary to what some people seem to think hydrogen requires electrical power to be generated. Again nuclear power is the cheapest and most reliable way to generate that power. Solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro power are all important but they will not be able to provide power at the level necessary for us to continue to enjoy the standard of living we now enjoy. Most of these power sources are limited to narrow areas but nuclear power can be generated anywhere. What we need to do is not only support nuclear power, we need to support new, technologically advanced nuclear power plants. The power plants we now have are 1950's technology at best. Would you you insist on driving a 1950's or 60's car when the safer, longer lasting and more efficient cars of today are available? Would you rather fly across the Atlantic in a DC3 or a 767? We need to build more nuclear power plants but we also need to build newer power plants with advanced technology. New technology has the advantage of not only being completely safe they also have the advantage of producing much less nuclear waste. While we are on the subject of nuclear waste I would like to point out that coal fired power plants spew thousands of tons of radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere every year dwarfing even the possible amount of isotopes nuclear power plants could release into the environment in a worse case scenario. In reality nuclear power plants do not release radio isotopes into the environment at all but we fear nuclear power while we allow coal fired plants to spew the very materials we fear so much out into our air and water every day. We need to build more and newer nuclear power plants, the future is nuclear, lets embrace it while we still have the means to do so.