Let's say your neighbor decides to kennel 100 dogs in his backyard. You ask how he's going to handle all the dog poo-poo. He replies, "Oh, I'm sure I'll work that out."

Let's say city ordinances don't protect you, and the bank loans him money trusting he'll handle the feces responsibly.

Preposterous, you say? Of course. Unfortunately, nuclear power is allowed to operate like this fictional neighbor.

On July 29 the Pantagraph reported Exelon's desire to participate in the nuclear industry "resurgence." So did the Tribune and U.S. papers that dutifully ran nuclear lobbyist propaganda. While Exelon's President John Rowe maintains he'll not build another reactor until the "waste handling" problem is solved, understand the possible hidden meaning here: Rowe wants to build new reactors, the current federal government wants that too, and everyone involved is saying not so subtly, "People, we've got to concoct some way to describe and plan for waste handling so it looks like we've solved the problem."

Unfortunately, nuclear waste, as it piles up year after year, is insoluble. Radioactive waste won't melt in the rain, like stinky dog poo will. Instead, plutonium, strontium and cesium will poison our planet for thousands of years and the technology does not exist that can safely and permanently sequester this stuff. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The other problem? Uranium supplies. Energy Biz Insider reports MIT as saying that preferred supplies of uranium are running out, poorer grade uranium uses more energy than it provides and effective fuel reprocessing technology is 20 years away.

Fuel reprocessing sites are also notorious for the poisonous wastes they produce and their poor safety records.

Nuclear is too slow, too expensive and too dangerous to solve global warming. Our precious time and resources need to focus on conservation and alternative energy.

Sandra Lindberg

Bloomington