Even if the sub reaches crush depth, the reactor itself is very heavily protected. Note that I'm not saying that exposing the reactor core to seawater is impossible, but given all of the safeguards, it's highly unlikely.

Closed loop system. Never exposed to outside water sources.

Sure, uranium could leach into the ocean. But at what concentration? And at what expected half life?

Uranium has a long half life, so the risk is tolerable. Estimates have been that more uranium is in sea water than will ever be mined. Good reason for some people to stay put of the water, More space for the rest of us to play, I guess.

I'm always surprised at the number of people who think that long lived isotopes are more dangerous than short lived ones.

Clearly you don't understand Ayn Rand or you only understand the usual dizinformatsia. She never said that one shouldn't care or be empathetic to others. What she said was that one needs to take care of oneself first before helping others. Living in a society or culture where others' needs come before mine (altruism) means that I must cede my self determination to the whim of the collective.

As much as Steve Jobs wanted to be countercultural, without the uniquely American version of self determination, he would have never achieved the success that is Apple.

Heck, you can find any number of Ayn Rand fans who also do a lot of philanthropic work -- but you have to have the personal means to be philanthropic first.

Disclaimer: I'm an Ayn Rand fan and Freemason (yes, for you objectivists, that's a contradiction -- but where do you think the ideas that became the United States came from?)

If you live in California, it's at least five years before you can get past most environmental impact statements, convince local governments that you're really going to benefit them economically, get appropriate blessing from various air quality mangement districts, and break ground. The regulations are very imposing. Add to that the new CO_2 regulations in CA, and one can get into a real nightmare.

Consider solar energy plants in the high desert -- lots of land, lots of sun, lots of panels. No way to get the energy back to the consumer because as soon as a shovel hit the dirt, environmental groups sued over the transport lines that would have to cross the desert back to population.

Although I'm not entirelt convinced that labor costs are small in comparison to total product cost. Lee Ioccoca pointed out that even in the 90s, Blue Cross became Chrysler's #2 supplier. It's those indirect costs of labor (approx. 2.5x salary) that eventually make US manufacturing unappealing.