There Is No Free Lunch. Period.

For better or worse, our species has decided that nuclear energy and bombs are worth pursuing in spite of the deadly waste created in the process. With the growing pressure of climate change, nuclear looks like an attractive option in many respects. But the price we pay is that we must deal with the waste. Stashing it in temporary, surface-level containers works for now, but this problem exists on a geologic timescale—and requires geologic solutions.

If we want to continue consuming power at the rate that we do, we'll have to deal with it head-on.

"There are environmental costs and human costs to every kind [of energy]," including nuclear, says Allison Macfarlane in this story. "There is no free lunch."