Nuclear power is a very hazardous power source. It can destroy entire cities and kill millions, and the waste produced is harming the environment… Wait, that’s not right. Nuclear power is actually the safest power source when handled correctly. I’ll prove it by talking about a power production comparison, the death rates by production per hour, the disasters, environmental issues, and an alternative method.

First I should talk about how powerful each source is. According to What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source? on U.S. Energy Information Administration, last updated February 29th, 2024, fossil fuels generated the most kilowatt hours in 2023… combined. When looked at separately, they aren’t as good (except for natural gas, which produced 1,802 billion kWh). Coal produced 675 billion kWh and petroleum produced sixteen billion. The renewable sources were also okay. Wind power produced 425 billion kWh, hydropower produced 240 billion, solar produced 165 billion, and geothermal produced sixteen billion. Nuclear power was amazing. Just that alone produced 775 billion kWh, even though it accounted for 18.6% of the total energy produced, while fossil fuels produced 60% and renewables produced 21.4%. And once we master nuclear fusion, the power produced will go off the charts. These sources do have drawbacks, though.

Now I’ll talk about the deaths each source causes every terawatt hour, including accidents and air pollution. According to Charted: The Safest and Deadliest Energy Sources by Ruben Berge Mathisen on Visual Capitalist, published on November 29th, 2023, coal is the deadliest source, at 24.6 deaths. Next is oil at 18.4 deaths, then natural gas at 2.8, hydropower at 1.3, wind at 0.04, nuclear energy at 0.03, and finally, solar power at 0.02. But looking at just the carbon emissions, the ranks change a bit. Every gigawatt hour, coal releases 820 tons of CO2, oil releases 720 tons, natural gas releases 490 tons, hydropower releases 34 tons, solar energy releases 5 tons, wind releases 4 tons, and nuclear releases 3 tons. But what about the disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima? Nuclear power is still destructive. Well, I should probably talk about why those power plants blew up.

It seems like the biggest thing people are worried about with nuclear power is having another disaster like the one in Fukushima (which is apparently somewhat safe now). But at least one of the two well-known disasters was actually easily avoidable. First, I’ll talk about the Chernobyl disaster, according to Frequently Asked Chernobyl Questions on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency, last updated in 2023. On April 26th, 1986, the Number Four RBMK reactor exploded and leaked radiation when it was at low power during a test. They ignored safety measures and the uranium fuel overheated, melting through the barriers. There was no containment structure, a concrete and steel dome to prevent radiation from escaping in case of an accident like this. According to Britannica on the Fukushima accident, last updated March 19th, 2024, The Fukushima disaster was caused by a tsunami and an earthquake that cut the plant’s power, so the cooling systems failed in three of the six reactors. But if they only took out three out of the six reactors, I think it would be able to easily survive farther from the coast, at least in America, where they wouldn’t even be on a fault line, even factoring in tornadoes. And to further prove that we should go nuclear, I’ll talk about some environmental issues.

There are quite a few ways energy sources can harm the environment. First, there’s global warming, caused by greenhouse gasses trapping heat in the atmosphere. Noticed that nearly snowless winter? That can cause problems. When snow melts, it provides water wherever it touches. But with less snow, there are less opportunities for plants to get water and for rivers to fill up, and global warming has already caused a lot of droughts, which also means a lot less water for us. There’s also air pollution, which is very bad for our lungs, and the older people get, the more vulnerable they are. Of course, people could always wear masks, but they’re not perfect, and they’re also uncomfortable. Fossil fuels contribute to both of these problems the most. Nuclear power contributes the least.

Finally, there’s actually a safe method of storing waste that they’re not doing only because the public is scared of it. They have containers that they’ve actually rammed a train into, and there wasn’t even a dent. They want to put it underground, but people are scared that it’ll pollute the land. But it would be so low that there would be no way there would be enough waste to be even close to reaching the surface. Hopefully this essay will cause this to change.

Hopefully, after looking at power, death rates, the disaster causes, and the environmental issues, people will finally agree that we should go nuclear. And if they finally get to use the alternative waste storage method, nuclear power could be so much safer.