Vikas Bhat is full of questions. Let me try to give my own take on some of them
1. Why Western countries have not set up nuclear plants?
The exceptions are France - where nuclear reactors is the major power source. They are the most power surplus country in Europe that they export power to European countries who in turn need not make heavy investments on nuclear power.
There are many reasons why a country opt or avoid nuclear plants. They may have other options - hydel, coal, wind, oil etc. Then there is the safety factor. Lastly nuclear power is expensive.
What has changed is that resources like coal, petroleum have depleted and began to be costly. Over the decade, prolonged use of nuclear power have in-built better safety stds. With the price of oil hitting the USD 140-150 as compared to USD 25-30 band 5 years, nuclear economics have become that more competitive
