So we have a real energy problem. Most of the ways that we know to make energy involve burning huge amounts of fossil fuels that spill CO2 into the atmosphere and cause global warming. Wonks Anonymous fully supports conservation, motivated by a Carbon Tax and aided by research into more efficient technologies. He also suspects that we might still find ourselves a bit short of electricity. Realizing that Nuclear Power has spent most of the 20th century in very bad company, he would like to ask that the nation consider its rehabilitation.

There are some major caveats here. If we are to pursue something like John McCain's goal of 45 new reactors by 2030 we will need to approach the problem in an entirely new way. Conventional policies, massive subsidies for the "private" sector, government assumption of risk for "entrepreneurs" and lax oversight of the results have not really done much for us. Wonks Anonymous would recommend the following approach.

The Nuclear Power Production Agency should be government owned and subject to general, not specific, political control. We want to plan and execute this in a way that causes minimal harm to the environment and delivers power to the places where it is needed. Private management by "competitive" utilities has never produced and delivered power as well as government agencies like the TVA. Our latest bout of Utility privatization/deregulation in California in the 1990's gave us brownouts and ridiculous electricity rates. It delivered much, much more to ENRON and other business weasels.

Besides, all plans for nuclear power involve massive government subsidies. If we are going to be paying for this, we ought to own it.

We should not try to reinvent the wheel and by no means should we use US companies to construct and run the system. Our major construction companies have spent the past five years demonstrating just how expensive and unfit they are. If Bechtel and Hallibuton are incapable of constructing or even rehabilitating sewers in Iraq, can we trust them with nuclear power plants? Although our history of construction and maintenance of nuclear plants is better than the Russians, it is still not great. Three Mile Island did not quite melt down.

One European nation seems to have shown itself capable of running an integrated, modern nuclear power program. We need to ask the French.

This is presented in the true spirit of bipartisinship. Conservatives get their nuclear power program but they have to give up massive subsidies to US business. Liberals give up their opposition to nuclear power but get some rationality and planning in our chaotic and inefficient electric utilities.