In order to promote a sound basis for considering the role of nuclear in climate change, this review spans the technical topics of social and political debate surrounding nuclear energy with a focus on the objective science of these issues including nuclear waste, accidents and overall risk. Novel aspects include the emergence of nuclear energy as being potentially renewable and the antithesis of Fukushima being an argument for the unacceptable risks associated with the use of nuclear energy. The purpose of this review is to present the facts about nuclear energy divorced from political, social or comparable bias. The results argue nuclear as effectively the most attrac- tive option from almost every possible perspective in which common social discourse would have these painted as unfavourable if not horrific.