The decision-makers: A cacophony of voices: The tangle of politics, finance, bureaucracy, and the persuasive arts yields ¿go no-go¿ answers for the nuclear industry

Building a nuclear power plant in the United States is not a job for the faint at heart. It takes a minimum of seven years of planning, studies, reviews, and hearings just to get the Federal, state, and local permits for construction. At least six more years are needed to build the plant and obtain an operating license. That is the quick way to put up a nuclear power plant. In practice, it rarely happens that fast.