Some points that this kind of articles typically fail to address:
1) Storage of waste is still an unsolved problem. Even here in Switzerland, which is a very rich country, there is no definitive agenda for storage.
2) We are in the middle of a climate transient, with severe and long droughts as one of the many consequences. Is a technology that require water to be safe the best bet for the future.
3) Little is said about the necessity to reduce energy use, it's often assumed our energy demand will continue growing exponentially, with no questioning on that side.
Actually the problem is solved. First, dangerous waste is extremely small. All of the French high-activity waste for the past 50 years is currently in one single storage pool (a cube of less than 50m).
Second, deep storage is safe. Oil and gas stayed safely deep in the earth crust for many millions of years. Nuclear waste has no particular reason to be so much more difficult to store.
Building nuclear doesn't preclude a very high reduction of our energy use. Fossil fuels are currently 80 to 90% of our energy. So we're already talking of a very steep reduction ahead. Do you want to try reducing by 95 or 99%?
Regarding energy use, please consider that the fact that there are about 8 billions humans roaming the earth is because of high energy availability. We already face the very serious challenge of reducing drastically our energy use without making it a genocide of unimaginable proportions. I'd rather stay prudent and modest in our abilities.
1) Storage of waste is still an unsolved problem. Even here in Switzerland, which is a very rich country, there is no definitive agenda for storage.
2) We are in the middle of a climate transient, with severe and long droughts as one of the many consequences. Is a technology that require water to be safe the best bet for the future.
3) Little is said about the necessity to reduce energy use, it's often assumed our energy demand will continue growing exponentially, with no questioning on that side.