Our demand for energy is increasing astronomically. Nuclear power is both efficient and cheap. And it may be the only way to keep up while simultaneously cutting off from fossil fuels.

But people are scared.

The problem is that they shouldn’t be.

Of the hundreds of operational nuclear power plants in history, we’ve seen a total of two serious events — resulting in less than 80 fatalities combined.

Chernobyl happened as a result of a system design flaw. Fukushima to a location flaw. Neither was a direct result of the technology itself.

I’m not pushing for nuclear power plants to start popping up on every street corner. However, the negative stigma surrounding them will hinder our ability to progress, even though that stigma is skewed and unvalidated.

I don’t know the path forward, but closing doors on a viable energy solution over two events seems a drastic measure.