I'm really happy to live in a country where all politicians are against nuclear power. I can't grasp why people would want to have nuclear power plants.
Nuclear power plants may not release emissions. But the nuclear waste in itself is polluting. Again, where do you suggest to store nuclear waste? There's no permanent repository.
It's not polluting in the way that carbon emission contribute to climate change, nor in the way that carbon byproducts lead to smog and air pollution. While storage of waste is an issue, there just isn't that much of it. And at least you can and must store all the waste. Waste can be reprocessed before disposal, which removes some of the radiation, but governments can skimp on that because it can be expensive. In any case, nuclear waste is being stored for the long term all over the world. I don't know where personally, because I'm not an expert, but it's clearly happening. We should have more engagement not less, to bring the best experts to the subject so they can make the best decisions, as well as pressuring governments to let them know that it's worth spending that extra money on tighter regulations.
Did you ever come across the thought that there might be accidents? Nuclear power plants are operated by people. And people make mistakes. The consequences of said mistakes have a huge influence on people's lives and nature in general. Take Chernobyl as example. Nobody has been able to live in the area around it since 1986. And nobody will be for the next 1000 years.
Something "might" happen, but you have to question further than that and ask just exactly how often "might" means. Surely equating "might" with "will" is oversimplifying the issue. As to your point on Chernobyl, I'm not sure if Chernobyl-type plants are still in use after what happened. There are new designs involving new technologies being developed every day, and there are international organizations involving many countries that decide how high the standards should be.
If there were several Chernobyls in the world, where would we all live? BlahISuck, do you live close to a nuclear power plant? What if there was an accident like with Chernobyl and you'd have to leave your home forever. Do you really think that producing energy is really worth such a high price?
Yes, I do. It's a fifteen minute drive. And the fact of the matter is that there /aren't/ several Chernobyls in the world. People who design the plants and make nuclear policy do have risk assessments, and it's a risk that they end up taking. However, that's the very reason that your "what if" is a "what if". We've had several accidents in the past, but nothing major. And producing energy in general is worth a high price. That's why energy costs are increasing all over the world, there's just ever-growing demand for it.
And minor problems at nuclear power plants are common. As they're minor, they don't have any big consequences and are not mentioned in the news normally. But minor problems may develop into bigger ones if people make mistakes.
While that's true, it doesn't really tell us anything. All big problems come from small problems. Not all small problems turn into big problems.
Also, it's not true that producing energy with nuclear power plants is less expensive. It's just that nuclear power plants are not completely covered by insurance. If they were, producing energy by using nuclear power plants would be too expensive to be taken into account.
I'm not sure what you're talking about. In Canada there are laws that require plant operators to provide insurance. The US has a tiered insurance system. Besides, accidents happen so rarely that federal governments don't see a problem with intervening - although, of course, they have to. Anyways, since these operators are paying insurance, the consumer is paying that cost as well so there's no invisible "surcharge" unless there is an accident, then it wouldn't be invisible at all.
By the way, using water is a very efficient way to produce energy. Norway produces 99% of its energy by hydropower plants. I'm sure other countries could pull this off as well.
That's the problem. Hydroelectric dams require viable sites to pull off. Or you could be like China and create the Three Gorges Dam, not only the largest hydroelectric, but the the largest power station ever ^^ Norway also sells a boatload of oil to other countries, in particular to those who couldn't pull this off.