Comment by bronson

I'm broadly supportive of nuclear fission, but I completely understand more nervousness of it than coal, particularly in the days before we cared much about climate change or industrial pollution. the worry about nuclear isn't low-level day to day pollution, it's disasters. coal disasters are essentially local incidents, and while they can have a big impact politically (f.e., Aberfan), they don't strike fear into people's hearts on a national or international level because the only people at risk to a disaster live very near a coal plant. when Chernobyl surged, half of Europe was affected. yes coal plants can have fallout too, but it's nowhere near as dangerous, even if the standard pollution is worse over time

coal plants were allowed to produce more radiation than nuclear plants because nuclear plants are nuclear plants and radiation management is an intrinsic part of the process. although they undoubtedly should have been, no one was paying attention to coal plants' radiation output, because they were invented before radiation was even discovered, and it's just not the star of the show there, nor is it the first consideration people have when considering coal pollution