I’m afraid that real development of commercial nuclear-powered energy has taken a hit for another generation with the recent accident. It’s a shame, too, because as bad as this accident has been – and it has been bloody awful – the short and long term casualty effects of the current (and ongoing) disaster will be less than an average year’s toll of coal miners killed in mining disasters, and the climate effects are already proven to be nearly nil in comparison. Yet, the public perception of “nuclear accident” will continue to be “ecological catastrophe”, regardless of the facts.