Nuclear power has one of the lowest levels of fatalities per unit of energy generated compared to other energy sources . Coal , petroleum , natural gas and hydroelectricity each have caused a greater number of fatalities per unit of energy , due to air pollution and accidents . Since its commercialization in the 1970s , nuclear power has prevented about 1.84 million air pollution-related deaths and the emission of about 64 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent that would have otherwise resulted from the burning of fossil fuels . Accidents in nuclear power plants include the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union in 1986 , the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 , and the more contained Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979 . There have also been some nuclear submarine accidents
Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
Nuclear power