Nuclear options: Nuclear power may be a

NASA climatologist James Hansen’s research into global warming has brought him fame

Specifically, Hansen says, the Generation IV nuclear power plants now under development offer an alternative to burning coal that ought to be pursued, in this country and globally.

Gen IV plants use far more of the nuclear fuel that they process than their predecessors, leaving less waste and fewer headaches with waste storage. Gen IV waste also has a much shorter half life than the waste created by older plants, Hansen says. These advantages have made development of Gen-IV technology a priority in much of the world, including China and France (which has long relied on nuclear to power its economy).

Hansen, who visited with the Chronicle Editorial Board last month, is very matter-of-fact in his advocacy for nuclear power over coal, which now supplies about half of the electricity in this country. And that runs the soft-spoken scientist-turned-advocate directly into a group that is otherwise in his corner