Comment by anenefan

If nuclear - Thorium not Uranium is a cleaner way ahead for the waste is less of a problem. I've not read anything as to how long a Thorium reactor / plant might last and what the clean up costs at end of life would be but I imagine the metal around the reactors would be equally contaminated by nuclear radiation regardless of the fuel source.

There is a large somewhat unrealised issue of decommissioning large uranium nuclear plants when they reach end of life. [1] [2] Perhaps the newer smaller reactor plants proposed atm might not quite the same level of trouble decommissioning them.

[1] https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-c...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Cs8I-6PkQ [video 27 mins] How a Nuclear Power Plant Is Actually Decommissioned — The Full $20B Process

- can take 30 to 60 years - average US nuclear plant decommission cost sits around 10 billion dollars.