But there isn't anything spiritual about that scene above the Columbia. Closer up, you see the weather-stained details of the concrete looming above the bright water, and the containment dome, empty now. Should we continue to sustain a way of life for farmers, ranchers, barge operators and others at taxpayers' expense. Those towers once seemed to be icons of a high-tech future. But you don't see them, any more than you see the region building new dams.
Some people think nuclear power is an inherently bad idea.
Others think it's a good one that's been victimized by irrational public fears. Either way, it obviously hasn't failed in a physical sense. It generates electricity all over this country, a good deal of Europe and parts of Asia. It operates reliably on nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines all over the world. But in this country, as a commercial technology, it has failed to generate power at a competitive price.