this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2022
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nuclear energy is one of the safest methods of power generation, with literally hundreds of times less deaths per energy unit compared to fossil fuels, which cause tens of millions of deaths through air pollution
even though nuclear energy causes more deaths per unit of energy produced compared to renewable sources of energy, it is nonetheless crucial to a successful transition away from fossil fuels for power generation, bc nuclear plants' energy output is relatively constant, independent of circumstances, and as such it provides the absolutely essential "base power capacity", which is always consumed, and cannot be reliably provided by renewable sources of energy
in most cases, shutting down nuclear power plants causes deaths, not prevents them, because to some degree their power generation capacity is going to be replaced with fossil fuels, which are, again, orders of magnitude more deadly