From a Government website:
Highest Capacity Factor by Energy Source:
Nuclear 92.5%
Geothermal 74.3%
Natural Gas 56.6%
Hydro 41.5%
Coal 40.2%
Wind 35.4%
Solar 24.9%
This basically means nuclear power plants are producing maximum power more than 92% of the time during the year.
That’s about
nearly 2 times more as natural gas and coal units, and almost 3 times or more reliable than wind and solar plants.
People can argue the risks...which I understand. Here is a quick summary of signifcant issues in over 50 years:
There have been
two major reactor accidents in the history of civil nuclear power – Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi. Chernobyl involved an intense fire without provision for containment, and Fukushima Daiichi severely tested the containment, allowing some release of radioactivity.
For the US:
The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public.
Basically, they are good at what they do. The main problem is disposal of nuclear waste, which is constantly being reviewed on how to improve this process or use the material in other ways. However, these power plants do not emit carbon dioxide as they are not burning fossil fuels so it is better for the atmosphere than other methods of energy production.
In short...solar and wind may be "cleaner: (although there are elements of these methods that have their own environmental impact) they are not nearly as efficient. We should continue to pursue cleaner methods, but there has to be a "meet the need in the best way possible" thought process until we get there.