WASHINGTON — Like it or not, the nukes are coming. Driven by soaring energy demands, the high cost of gas and oil and worries about global warming, an expansion of peaceful nuclear power increasingly appears to be inevitable. ‘I believe very strongly that new nuclear plants will be built in the U.S. in the coming decades to address problems with respect to higher energy demand, high prices and global warming,” said Sudarshan Loyalka, a professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia. ‘I believe the nation has no other choice.” Even some environmentalists are swallowing their previous distaste for atomic energy and supporting the expansion of nuclear power in the United States. Some earlier foes now regard coal, the cheapest but dirtiest fuel, as worse for the environment than nukes. Many proposed coal plants are being canceled because of public opposition and mounting costs. In addition, there’s “a tremendous international movement toward nuclear energy,” said Dennis Spurgeon, the assistant secretary of energy for nuclear energy. “It has gained a lot of momentum in the last couple of years.” According to Spurgeon, 31 countries are in the nuclear energy club and another 55 […]