How does the amount of waste from nuclear power compare to that of wind and solar?

This turns out to be a really interesting question! We usually think of wind and solar as being the “greenest” energy sources because they are renewable and because they produce no pollution or other waste in the process of generating energy. However, there is waste associated with two other aspects of wind and solar: (1) the mining of the materials that go into their construction; and (2) the disposal of them when they eventually stop working (for example, when a wind turbine breaks or a solar panel has degraded to the point that it must be replaced).

So how does the waste from wind and solar compare to that of nuclear? In terms of total waste, wind and solar produce far more. The reason is the huge amount of material needed to generate substantial amounts of energy with wind or solar, in contrast to the very small amount of fuel needed for nuclear power (because of the high energy density of nuclear fuel). But what about toxic waste? Wind turbines don’t generally contain much toxic material, though they are not easily recycled. Solar panels, however, have a variety of toxic metals and other chemicals. Therefore, unless these toxic materials are completely recycled when the panels stop working, they will end up being released into the environment. Given the difficulty of ensuring that all solar panels are properly recycled, it is very likely that the total amount of toxic waste from solar will exceed that from nuclear power.

The surprising bottom line is that while the issue is still subject to great debate, it is not at all clear that wind and solar are “greener” than nuclear power. Indeed, there are numerous environmentalists and scientists who now argue that even existing nuclear power plants are safer and greener than any other currently available energy source, and that emerging technologies will make them safer and greener still.