The "Nuclear Rennaisance" is over

As the Middle East has destabilized and British Petroleum dumped thousands of tons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, nuclear-power advocates were seeing a sudden rise in interest in building new, safer power plants. The idea was that modern Nuclear Power was far safer than the days of 3 Mile Island or Chernobyl, so America could power herself without Mideast Oil and without fear of Meltdown. But news of as many as 6 reactors failing in post-tsunami Japan including one which is probably in the middle of a partial meltdown has likely doomed this nascent movement toward energy independence. After all, what politician or regulator is going to approve a new power plant (even a modern, safer one) with smoking radioactive ruins across the Pacific Ocean?

Update 6:02 am: A good summary of worst-case scenarios and an explanation of why Japan was unprepared for this nuclear crisis.