The only thing which has concerned me about this idea, besides cost, is the transmission of power back to Earth. Usually some form of microwave or laser is proposed.

Inevitably that's going to go haywire. It shouldn't, I know. Oil tankers shouldn't sink, leak, run aground, or whatever, and they do. If it can go wrong it will. Something, sometime, always goes wrong. Not often, I know.

Then, would you have a high-energy beam sweeping it's way across the continent, or oceans, frying everything in it's path? What would be the risk of that?

I don't know.

I'd rather take the risks from 3rd and 4th generation nuclear plants. They can be made just about as fail-safe as anything can be, the wastes can be stored easily and a lot less expensively than they are doing now.

And if something does go wrong with the newer designs, any damage would be very, very limited.

Just never been able to get the picture of a cutting torch like beam sweeping down Route 66. Make a great movie, though.

Arf