Amount required to operate plant
Although it is true that the high-level wastes produced by nuclear processes is very dangerous and harmful to the environment, what sets nuclear energy apart from other industries is the amount of waste produced is very minimal due to the limited consumption of fuel required to power a nuclear power plant. In his book titled Nuclear Power: The History of Nuclear Power, James A. Mahaffey discussed the waste production between nuclear power and coal-fueled power. He states "if all electrical power that a person consumes in a lifetime were produced by nuclear fission, then the waste product from the production would fit in a Coke can and weigh 2.0 pounds. If that electricity were produced by burning coal, the solid waste would be a small mountain weighing 68.5 tons (62.1 mt) and the gaseous carbon dioxide would weigh 77 tons (70 metric tons)" (Mahaffey 128). This quote depicts that incredibly large amount of wastes produced by one individual by using coal while the amount of wastes produced by one individual using nuclear power would result in an amount small enough to fit in a common beverage and weigh just 2 pounds. This quote depicts how although nuclear power does receive a poor appearance due to the high levels of radioactivity in the high-level wastes produced by the nuclear industry, the amount of wastes produced is actually very minimal in comparison to other sources of power.