short answer seems to be public perception and political will, sadly. measured in safety, ie harm to human life and the environment, nuclear power is one of the best energy sources, far above eg coal and natural gas, but it may always raise images of exotic danger and fear in the public at large, which is hard to fight.
technically, there seems to be good progress recently in breeder reactors, automation and safety, fully submerged and other water-managed operating modes, etc. cc @malcolmredheron for more depth. none of that really changes the public perception problem though.
short answer seems to be public perception and political will, sadly. measured in safety, ie harm to human life and the environment, nuclear power is one of the best energy sources, far above eg coal and natural gas, but it may always raise images of exotic danger and fear in the public at large, which is hard to fight.
technically, there seems to be good progress recently in breeder reactors, automation and safety, fully submerged and other water-managed operating modes, etc. cc @malcolmredheron for more depth. none of that really changes the public perception problem though.
https://twitter.com/stewartbrand is one of my favorite pro-nuclear environmentalists and conservationists. his book Whole Earth Discipline has good thinking on nuclear energy. David MacKay (Sustainable Energy Without The Hot Air) and Bill McKibben are also good.