OP-ED: Surprising fact: Nuclear power is safe

The mistakes of the past are not repeated in today’s power plants
Millions of people (over 4 million according to WHO) are killed by outdoor air pollution every year. Most of these deaths can be attributed to pollution from burning fossil fuels, yet we think of fossil fuels as safe. 

On the other hand, relatively few people have been killed by nuclear power in its 70 year history. However, Chernobyl and Fukushima have convinced the world that nuclear power plants are unsafe.

We can objectively compare the safety of power from different sources by comparing deaths per thousand terawatt-hours (of electric power) from each source. Power from coal causes about 100,000 deaths per thousand terawatt-hours. Power from natural gas causes 4,000 deaths per thousand terawatt-hours. These are big numbers. 

Solar power causes only 440 deaths per thousand terawatt-hours, a much low number. Most readers will be surprised to learn that nuclear power is statistically the safest, causing only 90 deaths per thousand terawatt-hours (these figures are from Statista.com and Forbes).