Critics, including most major environmental groups, claim that nuclear power is an uneconomic and potentially dangerous energy source with a limited fuel supply, especially compared to renewable energy, and dispute whether the costs and risks can be reduced through new technology. They also point to the problem of storing radioactive waste, the potential for possibly severe radioactive contamination by accident or sabotage, and the possibility of nuclear proliferation.
Proponents claim that these risks are small and can be further reduced by the technology in the new reactors. They further claim that the safety record is already good when compared to the other major kinds of power plants, that many renewables have not solved the problem with their intermittent power production, in effect limiting them to a minority share of power production, and that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source.