Hi Rahvin, I want to say I am indeed learning a great deal from your post. But I did have a few questions.
1.Is it possible the reason for the lesser deaths/TWh of power from nuclear plants is because when compared to other forms of power generation there are less nuclear plants? If some day nuclear plants equal or exceed coal /water and oil then is it safe to assume, we will see a increase in nuclear power production deaths to equal or exceed other forms of power production?
Your mention of the Hydroelectric dam in China was the grandslam though. Simply looking at that one example shows how tame in comparison nuclear power is.
2. Your mention of coal seam fires: It seems to me this is caused by both man made and by natural means of ignition. So to say it is man made is not completely accurate is it? A forrest fire can ignite a coal seam.
3. Death pre TWh of power is one way to assess safety, but what about long term effects on the environment. We all know the ravages of coal mining and the destruction of natural forest. But we still do not know the future implications of storing radioactive waste in the Earth indefinitley. Is the possiblility of radiation poison not something that should also be evaluated in terms of safety? Is the fact that radioactive material has the potential to cause the ground water and food chain contamination not another safety concern? I understand about your example of acid rain, however if those means of power production are reduced or halted wont acid rain be a thing of the past. But yet a massive release of radioactive material would potentially last for decades if not longer?
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