Why is nuclear power controversial?
I think mainly because of the history of its use in WW2 as a weapon, this was the first time the general public were aware of nuclear power and the fear of its use in wartime has meant a continuing suspicion of it and scientists involved. As an industrial process for producing electricity it might not have attracted such suspicion if it had never been used as a weapon. It has a pretty good record of safety, even with the Chernobyl disaster having occurred, compared with other high energy industries such as coal mining. As an example of what can happen with industrial processes, take the example of the Union Carbide plant explosion in India (I forget the year). About 4000 people died due to exposure to dioxins, this was far worse than Chernobyl.
