Nuclear power—good or bad?

"There are currently 449 operating nuclear reactors in 31 countries, with a total installed generating capacity of more than 390,000 megawatts (MW)" (390GW)

There are plenty of people who support our use of nuclear power, and at least as many who oppose it. Supporters say it's a less environmentally destructive way of producing electrical energy because, overall, it releases fewer greenhouse emissions (less carbon dioxide gas) than burning fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. But opponents are concerned about the dangerous, long-lasting waste that nuclear power stations make, the way nuclear-energy byproducts help people build nuclear bombs, and the risk of catastrophic nuclear accidents. Here's a quick summary of the pros and cons.

Pros

One nuclear plant will make 2–3GW of power—as much as a large coal plant or about 1000–1500 large wind turbines working at full capacity. No-one disagrees that nuclear is a very effective way to generate enormous amounts of energy.

Nuclear plants produce much lower carbon emissions than fossil fuel plants (coal, oil, and natural gas).

It's much more efficient to release energy by smashing atoms apart than by "burning them" (releasing energy through the chemical reaction we call combustion). That's why nuclear plants need tiny amounts of fuel (compared to fossil fuel plants).

Nuclear plants can help to reduce a country's dependence on imported oil from unstable regions such as the Middle East. Countries without large fossil fuel supplies find nuclear an attractive option.

Cons

Waste from nuclear plants remains dangerously radioactive for many years, so it's difficult to dispose of safely.

Nuclear byproducts can be used to make bombs and there's a risk of nuclear material being acquired by terrorists.

Nuclear plants aren't sustainable or renewable forms of energy, because they rely on mining limited reserves of uranium. They're not zero-carbon either, because it takes a lot of energy to mine that uranium.

Nuclear plants are expensive and take many years to construct, usually in the face of fierce public opposition.

Nuclear plants can produce long-range air pollution and water pollution.

Since nuclear plants need huge amounts of cooling water, they're often built by the coast—but that makes them dangerously susceptible to rising sea levels and earthquake tsunamis.

At the end of their life, nuclear plants are very expensive to decommission safely.

What do you think? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?