The nuclear disaster in Japan has not changed Gov. Paul LePage’s opinion on the future of nuclear energy, his spokesman told the Bangor Daily News last week.

“What is happening in Japan is tragic,” Dan Demeritt told the newspaper. “But we are not changing our position that we need to consider all energy options going forward.”

Remaining open-minded is good, but when the governor does get around to considering the issue he will likely conclude that Maine has already seen its first and last nuclear plant.

Maine Yankee opened in 1972. Built in the heyday of U.S. nuclear energy, it operated only 24 years before becoming obsolete and closing.

The accident in Japan comes at the worst possible time for what many were calling a “nuclear renaissance.” Policymakers, including President Barack Obama, had begun to see nuclear as a possible way to generate electricity without creating greenhouse gases.

Public opinion polls in the U.S. have shown increasing support for nuclear energy in recent years. That will likely change with the lingering inability of the Japanese nuclear industry to deal with its complex, four-reactor crisis.

But while Americans may like the idea of nuclear power in a general sense, they always picture that reactor being a long way from their own homes, and that’s the problem.

The idea of a cooling tower anywhere on the Maine coast would result in howls of protest, particularly in light of the most-recent accident.

Consider the resistance Mainers are showing to having so-called “smart meters” outside their homes.

Or consider the local opposition and lawsuits filed against CMP over its plan to expand its existing power corridor in the state.

Many Mainers are even opposed to placing slow-spinning wind towers on remote mountain peaks, imagining all sorts of ailments that will result.

Now, particularly after the accident in Japan, finding a spot on the Maine coast with sufficient water resources to locate a reactor, generator and cooling tower would be impossible.

Then there is the small matter of cost. The Japan disaster will invariably result in additional safeguards being built into all future plants, and additional expense.

New nuclear plants have been estimated to cost a minimum of $10 billion each and produce power at about 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour.

With the accident in Japan, both those prices will almost certainly increase.

Natural gas plants will be far cheaper to build, easier to site and produce less expensive electricity far into the future.

And then there are the two still unsolved problems associated with nuclear power, their risk and storage of spent fuel.

A measure of the risk associated with nuclear power is the fact that no private insurer will touch them. Since 1957, U.S. taxpayers have been responsible for any damage resulting from a nuclear mishap.

Finally, through the ineptitude of the federal government, there is still no long-term storage solution for nuclear waste.

Today, the spent fuel used at Maine Yankee is still stored on site at Wiscasset, at an estimated annual cost of $6 to $8 million to ratepayers.

All of which means nuclear is unlikely to be any part of Maine’s energy future.

rrhoades@sunjournal.com

The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.