Nuclear Energy Is Too Safe

The Decemberists - "This Is Why We Fight"

I've written a lot about how opposition to nuclear power has killed, is killing, and will kill millions upon millions of people. The data are simply overwhelming.

Now, Jack Devanney, co-founder of ThorCon (thorium <swoon>), notes that nuclear power is far too safe. The entire article is worth reading; one small excerpt:

If nuclear plants were still being built to the AEC rules of the 1960's, nuclear electricity would currently cost less than 3 cents per kWh. Coal would have been phased out a long time ago. Aaron Cohen et al estimate that 100 million healthy life years are lost to particulate pollution every year.3. According to reference 4, the great bulk of this harm was due to fossil fuel combustion. We don't know how much of this is coal as opposed to gas and oil, but let's conservatively assume it is only 20%. Then over the last 50 years, something like one billion healthy life years that were lost to coal pollution would have been avoided. Not to mention, more than 300 gigatons of CO2.

Also, the amazing Hannah Ritchie notes that new nuclear power is not too slow, even without new reactor designs. 

We have met the enemy, and it is us.