Yeah, nuke certainly has problems, there's no way around that. If society collapses those areas will probably be fairly self-contained unless they melt down as society is failing - that's something no one can predict. Things have become a lot more efficient over the years, for example, with LEDs I can turn on every light in the house and be using a similar amount of energy as what my one room used incandescent. My entire network rack consumes about 150W, about the same as one machine did years ago. But we're using a lot more electric appliances, it's not uncommon to see someone that has a television in every room that's on all day, even with no one in the room. I know many people that are guilty of this. There's no need to be 12V, AC transmission is highly efficient, and generating power in a single location is the easiest way to contain the problems with generation. Just cut back on the gadgets you have running all the time and you'll be amazed at how low your electric bill can get.