Earlier this week, President Obama announced new loan guarantees for new construction projects for new American nuclear plants. The US has not built new large scale nuclear plants for 30 years. As most expect, he caught flack for this new stance (even from those in his own party).

As a pragmatist, I think it is a wise maneuver to rethink this country’s aversion to nuclear power.

And then today, the Wall Street Journal reported on a new type of smaller nuclear reactor.

[It is] smaller than a rail car and one tenth the cost of a big plant—is emerging as a contender to reshape the nation’s resurgent nuclear power industry.

Three big utilities, Tennessee Valley Authority, First Energy Corp. and Oglethorpe Power Corp., on Wednesday signed an agreement with McDermott International Inc.’s Babcock & Wilcox subsidiary, committing to get the new reactor approved for commercial use in the U.S.

While nuclear is clearly not as environmentally friendly as wind and solar, it is much cleaner than coal. The country needs to embrace energy efficiency, nuclear, and renewables to create energy independence.