It is fair to say that externalities exist for renewables that people don't like - I recall reading that the real reason China dominates rare earth minerals is

It is fair to say that externalities exist for renewables that people don't like - I recall reading that the real reason China dominates rare earth minerals is because refining them has such toxic byproducts no other country wants to do it. See: https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-wrestles-with-the-toxic-aftermath-of-rare-earth-mining https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-wrestles-with-the-toxic... Still, even that beats the uncontrolled meltdown of a nuclear reactor. It only has to happen once and then there's no going back.