Nuclear power may statistically be safe, but that's not much comfort for those who are taking what appears to be quite significant radiation levels right now.

Nuclear power may statistically be safe, but that's not much comfort for those who are taking what appears to be quite significant radiation levels right now. Other energy production methods may be less safe, but that's very difficult to determine as the worst case nuclear scenario is so much worse than what can happen with other methods. It makes it a "black swan", in that it's very difficult to determine the actual risk of a severe accident but if it happens it would dominate the statistical signal of "nuclear danger". Textbook black swan case. I feel like those that are saying that nuclear power is safe are kind of in the same situation as those that said that new methods in mathematical finance had made the financial system more safe. They may be right, but that's more a hope than a quantitative statement, as it's pretty much impossible to quantify these extreme events.