More recent tech makes it even easier to achieve safety, which would have made it even cheaper, had it not been for the excessive regulations (and other forms of red tape) that have been added since then.
Does that mean you believe there is too much regulations for nuclear power? That would also mean you would want to see less regulations?
Specifically, I would prefer if all energy types were regulated according to the same principles when it came to risk/harm tolerance, emission rates, etc.
If a coal plant is allowed to emit X Bq/GWh, every other plant types should have the same limit.
Or even better, if you add all polutants together, one should calculate total expected harm (in terms of X * deaths/GWh + Y * disease/GWh + Z * Global Warming contribution, or something) and either set a ceiling on total harm, or add a tax on each power plant based on total expected harm caused.
This wouldn't necessarily mean that the regulations would be written using fewer words, but it would/should lead to an optimal balance between cost of energy and the harm caused.
The current system seems to lead to both harm and price levels that are much higher than they need to be.
