Look at the cost in human lives to provide a given amount of coal power, compared to the SAME AMOUNT OF POWER from a nuclear plant.

Sure, include the cost of storage and long term radiation- BUT ALSO include the cost of mining the coal (black lung et al), and dealing with the ashes and acid rain. AND the radiation released by that coal- low level, but there is LOTS more coal used per Megawatt than uranium, so it adds up.

As Dick Greenhaus states,

"Parenthetically, it should be noted that coal burning releases a much greater amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere than does a fission power plane. And that reprocessing used nuclear waste--as is commonly done in other countries--- greatly reduces the need for extensive uranium mining. "

Even including the probable nuclear accidents (Estimated at 1 per 50 years per plant, which has been shown to be way high)) and cancer deaths, Nuclear is far safer than coal.




The only solution is to reduce energy use- which means to reduce population, or keep large parts of the world in primitive, pre-industrial conditions.