Czech authorities such as President Václav Klaus are touting nuclear energy as the solution to this troublesome dependence on natural gas from the East — and as a way to wean ourselves from the increasingly losing proposition of Czech coal mining. Ever the populist, Klaus would never miss the chance to play on the fears generated when the Czech Republic dodged a bullet last winter as Russia showed it is ready and willing to shut down its pipelines feeding Europe whenever one of its clients gets too vocal or troublesome. At the time, the offending party, in Russia's eyes, was Ukraine, but, in throttling the country's supply, it sent chills through everyone else further down the line.

The simple answer, say people like Klaus, is to go nuclear.

The trouble is, this energy route has its own complicating issues, in the form of safety questions, not least over radioactive waste. Because politicians have lacked both the leadership and the legal options to dispose of spent reactor fuel properly, in expensive, secure and well-monitored facilities deep underground, they have decided, as usual, to simply do nothing and try to have it both ways.

The Czech Republic has never had a national vote on nuclear energy, nor have any of its leaders been able to win the approval of the six local municipalities nearest the underground storage options put forward as the most ideal for radioactive waste. Yet, the Dukovany and Temelín nuclear power plants, despite other concerns, such as technical problems and aging facilities, churn out 31 percent of this country's energy, and new reactors are being discussed for the latter.

Politicians, like spoiled children, will get away with whatever they're allowed, so, in a way, they can hardly be blamed for dodging the storage issue while reaping the benefits of nuclear energy. In recent elections, none was questioned in any real detail about plans for viable energy policy — and certainly not about how the candidate intends to ensure secure disposal of radioactive waste. Few except the Green Party have bothered to even give it much thought, from all appearances.

When the news broke that the United States was considering anti-ballistic missile launch pads in the Czech Republic or Poland, the hue and cry was immediate. The line of argument goes that missile sites, even defensive ones, are bound to increase the risk of terrorist attacks in the Czech Republic.

How can it be, then, that no one has raised the question of security concerns over 600 metric tons (661.4 short tons) of radioactive waste that is simply stored in warehouses on-site at energy plants like Dukovany? Yes, the material is encased in ceramic and under guard. But how likely is that to prevent any determined terrorist looking for a way to instigate panic and create threats to public safety?