When it comes to any discussion on nuclear energy, three accidents are always mentioned.

Firstly, the accident in 1979 on the Three-Mile Island (TMI) in Pennsylvania. The 2 million people affected were exposed to radiation 1 millirem above the average radiation. Radiation exposure from X-Ray is 6-millirem, while the average radiation from the reactor was 100-125 millirem. Thus, the impact on public health was negligible , according to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Two, the accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986. Known as the worst nuclear accident in history, the event helped self-proclaimed environmentalists and activist groups make a case for a nuclear-free future. The accident led to the death of 29 workers due to extensive radiation exposure. Since 1986, however, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation identified no elaborate health consequences. However, thyroid cancers were noticed in Belarus, Ukraine and Western Russia, amongst those who were young during the accident and consumed milk containing iodine. More than 6,500 cases of thyroid cancer were detected with 15 deaths as the result of the Chernobyl nuclear fallout.

To put things in perspective, the exposure from the radiation from Chernobyl for the people from 1986-2005 was 30 millisievert or mSv for the ones who were evacuated, 1 mSv for the residents of USSR, and 0.3 mSv for the European population. In comparison, a full-body CT scan results in an exposure of 10-30 mSv.

The third accident and the most recent one is that in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 which was a result of a tsunami that followed an earthquake. The tsunami caused the power system to flood, thus causing a meltdown of the cooling systems of the reactors. Over 150,000 Japanese citizens had to be evacuated. However, according to a report with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the 195,000 odd residents living close to the plant showed no harmful effects from the meltdown when they were screened in May 2011. Also, the report stated that there was no radiation exposure for the public from the meltdown.

Thus, it won’t be wrong to say that nuclear energy has been a victim of bad press and jingoistic activism. For long, renewables have been pitched as an efficient energy source to combat the excessive use of fossil fuels and as a replacement to the available nuclear options. So, what are the observations here?