They Fictionalize Nuclear Disasters Like Chernobyl Because They Kill So Few
I used to be pro-nuclear power but I&#x27;ve long since come to the conclusion that there are three fundamental problems that basically make nuclear power a non-starter:<p>1. While average deaths per kWh might be relatively low (compared to other forms of power generation) the  worst case scenario is much, much worse. A coal plant just isn&#x27;t capable of making a thousand square miles uninhabitable for centuries.<p>2. Companies just can&#x27;t be trusted to run nuclear power plants. This requires long-term thinking way beyond quarterly profits. Because catastrophes are so unlikely but profit hits are so short term there is inevitable pressure to cut corners.<p>3. Governments have generally been pretty terrible at overseeing nuclear power industries. There are the dangers of regulatory capture and the temptation for politicians to kick the can down the street for the next guy to deal with. Political expediency is a powerful motivator. In the US, for example, the entire election&#x2F;voting process has been politicized. Why is a Supervisor of Elections a political office? This is something fundamental to the function of our democracy and politicians are happy to throw it under the bus to get some short term political goal.<p>Just look at the politics of climate change. That can&#x27;t trump (pardon the pun) politics. What makes you think the safety and oversight of nuclear power generation will?<p>4. Nuclear waste. We still have no large-scale long-term plan for how to dispose of nuclear waste. What&#x27;s more, governments seem to bear the cost for this rather than the corporations that profit from the power generated. The issues here range from making areas around sites uninhabitable (eg nuclear waste leaking into the water table) to human threats (eg certain isotopes make for great dirty bombs).<p>Unless you have some solution for these problems, honestly I feel like you&#x27;re wasting your time advocating for certainly fission power generation (and I&#x27;m not yet convinced nuclear fusion power generation is commercially viable).