As I’ve said before, I’m something of a fence-sitter with respect to replacing carbon-emitting sources of power with nuclear power. As a disclaimer to those who would decry my willingness to consider this purportedly evil technology, I’m becoming more and more skeptical that it’s really a good idea, which is why this morning’s Times article makes me nervous:

Federal officials say the program would produce a total of 330 pounds [of plutonium 238] over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling site outside Idaho Falls some 100 miles to the west and upwind of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Officials say the program could cost $1.5 billion and generate more than 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste.

Project managers say that most if not all of the new plutonium is intended for secret missions and they declined to divulge any details. But in the past, it has powered espionage devices.

"The real reason we're starting production is for national security," Timothy A. Frazier, head of radioisotope power systems at the Energy Department, said in a recent interview.

You’ll note that the article doesn’t say a word about using plutonium 238 as a source of power for more “menial” tasks, such as putting electricity into people’s homes, and indeed I don’t know if it’s even practical for such a task. But I also think that public reaction to a case like this will be indicative of people’s willingness to accept nuclear solutions to energy problems in general versus searching for safer, more economically viable sources of power.