See for example: http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/deaths-per-twh-by-energy-so...
Nuclear is two orders of magnitude safer than coal, and is even safer than solar.
The issue of nuclear waste is extremely overblown.
http://srren.ipcc-wg3.de/report
See p. 746.
Nuclear, excluding Chernobyl, in fatalities per GWeyr (GW electricity per year) does worse than EU Hydro, PV, Onshore and offshore wind, or Geothermal EGS. Biomass CHP biogas risks are very slightly higher, but comparable.
Even the worst power-related disaster of all time, a hydro failure in China, has the characteristic that, once it got done being a massive flood, things recovered fairly quickly. Zhumadian City in China is now home to over 7 million people, though 171,000 perished in the 1975 disaster
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Banqiao+Reservoir,+Zhumadi... 3m1 1e3 4m2 3m1 1s0x35d459f7ba9ab71b:0x817178d5dd5efc23
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banqiao_Dam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhumadian
Nuclear has been safer than fossil fuel generation, but that doesn't make it the safest generating option around.
There's also that pesky little problem that solar's failure modes are pretty self-limiting. A nuclear plant emits, as nuclear advocates are quite fond of noting, less radioactivity than a coal plant, under normal conditions.
It's just that other than normal conditions change that characteristics by many millions of fold, with consequences lasting from centuries to millennia.
"Solar is already cheaper than utility power in 36 states [1], it estimated to reach grid parity in all 50 states next year [2], and US solar generation capacity surging to almost 40GW by the end of 2016 [3]"
[1] http://news.investors.com/technology/061515-757277-tesla-see...
[2] http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/deutsche-bank-sees-50-us-sta...
[3] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-26/solar-as-f...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9728767
"Nuclear power plants take 10+ years to commission (Watts Bar in TN took nearly 36 years to complete), $1 billion USD to start (frequently approaching $2-4 billion), and have no permanent waste storage. Newer reactor designs that can burn up waste products instead of a once-through system haven't been tested in over 60 years (since first tested at Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project in the late 50s; Thorium in a breeder blanket configuration)."
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9728721
"> Yes, solar is cheaper than the retail with massive subsidies
The numbers I quote are without subsidies. Wind is already cheaper than nuclear without subsidies, even taking into account nuclear power plants receive enormous liability waivers that wind doesn't require (they're only liable for the first $13 billion USD in damages from an accident; the US government picks up the rest).
> So the rest of us are subsidizing solar owners through income taxes (federal) and the rates we pay for electricity.
And the rest of us our subsidizing cheap coal by not paying for the damage it does through carbon dioxide and radioactive material release. Your point?"
[1] http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Website-Lan...
Transmission losses are ~6%. Build more renewables.
Should we not be comparing capital costs, cost per kwh, fuel costs, waste costs, and dispatchability? And not "but how much space does it use"?
Mostly, I asked out of curiosity. But now that you mention it, I think there is value in comparing space requirements. If you need a vast amount of space, you may have to build further away, perhaps in areas where there isn't already infrastructure to support a major power station (you need roads, utilities, level ground, and so on). That adds to the cost.
edit: Not to mention if you move further out, you have more miles of wire to transport the energy. That's more opportunities for something to damage a line and more time and money spent finding and repairing the issue.
> Should we not be comparing capital costs, cost per kwh, fuel costs, waste costs, and dispatchability? And not "but how much space does it use"?
Let's not get snippy and dismissive, I simply asked a question.