Why is nuclear power considered to be a “clean” energy source when its waste is so contaminating/dangerous?

Question

Like. Nuclear waste/disasters contaminate areas for thousands of years and cause cancer. Why is that “clean”?

In: 9

Answer 1

Nuclear fuel has around a million times as much energy as chemical fuel, and it mostly stays in solid blocks after we’re done burning it. That means we use a small enough amount that it’s feasible to put all the waste in a sealed box where it’ll never hurt anyone. Coal power plants produce a million times as much waste, and much of it is gases and fine ash dust, so it’s totally impractical to keep coal smoke and ash away from people the way we do with nuclear waste.

You’re comparing a pound of nuclear waste to a pound of coal ash and smoke, when you should be comparing it to five hundred tons of coal ash and smoke.