"How many wind farms could you build for just 50 billion? How many solar panels would that buy?"
Oh wait, that's not the funny part. The funny part is that the US taxpayer already poured HUNDREDS of billions of dollars into the US nuclear power program. Back in the 50s and 60s when a Billion was very serious money too.
Suppose we'd invested $10 billion in wind and solar research back in the 1950s. And then instead of building all those nukes, we'd built wind plants instead. We'd already have enjoyed a half-century of windpower, with no waste still waiting for a solution, and nothing but perennial maintenance costs - for much MUCH less than a single nuclear plant costs now. We'd have saved so much, we could have been slowly converting to solar since the 1980s and maintenance costs would have been even lower.
But no, we decided to burn OIL and uranium. Now the poles are melting.
Way back a hundred years ago, some very wise men decided to build big hydroelectric dams. Those dams are still producing power, with reserve capacity that isn't even used part of the year. You can't get better electric rates anywhere else. THEY are the power heros in this country. And the jackoffs who decided to go nuclear and burn up all the fossil fuels in three generations??? Their grandchildren will be cursing their names and their graves.
Thanks heros. Too bad so many of us JUST DIDN'T GET IT.