This is one very strong reason why we need new nuclear reactors. For safety lapses such as these, I blame the current moratorium against new nuclear facilities in the US.
Lobbying can only do so much. In the face of an ideology dedicated to putting humanity back in the stone age, it can do little:
"Complex technology of any sort is an assault on human dignity. It would be little short of disastrous for us to discover a source of clean, cheap, abundant energy, because of what we might do with it." -- Amory Lovins
"A massive campaign must be launched to de-develop the United States. De-development means bringing our economic system into line with the realities of ecology and the world resource situation." -- Paul Ehrlich
What is needed is full a refutation of the quotes above, and a system of ideas (Google "Alex Epstein") to show us how things could and should be. This is why I say that simple political lobbying, while necessary, isn't remotely enough.
The nuclear industry is pretty bad at lobbying: it has few workers and a bad image. It usually gets trumped pretty thoroughly by the coal industry lobby.
"Keeping them in service is much more profitable."
Perhaps, but for how long? Profit over time from honest, new, innovative work can be much higher than scraping from the bottom of the barrel or from milking old achievements. (Just ask RIM or Nokia about how well that worked out for them.)
But to do that, you have to have the freedom (from coercion, wherever it may come from) to engage in that honest, new and innovative work. For the most part, the computer industry has that freedom, but the nuclear industry does not.
The nuclear industry can't just drop their current equipment and move on to new stuff like the computer industry can. Getting rid of an old reactor is horribly expensive.
What moratorium??? There is no moratorium against new nuclear facilities in the US. It is true that there haven't been any new nuclear reactors in the states for a long time, but there is no moratorium. (I think a couple of individual states may have moratoriums, but there is no federal moratorium).
The reason why there haven't been any new reactors is probably commercial. Investors are realizing that nuclear power is actually very expensive and will not build new reactors unless the taxpayers somehow pay for them.
The regulations are such that building new nuclear reactors anywhere within the NRC's jurisdiction is a long, slow, uncertain, and excruciatingly costly process. It's a de facto moratorium.
