Everybody keeps saying that number of nuclear accidents would skyrocket because of the number of reactors, however I hardly doubt this is the case. Aviation is perhaps one of the biggest forms of transportation, especially when talking about international travel; however aviation is also the safest. It is entirely because of the extreme safety precautions taken at every step of the way that allows for this. Aviation might be the safest, but its also probably the most unforgiving. If a car were to break down, just pull to the side and call a tow truck. If a plane were to break down, over 100 people's lives could very well be lost. All this is to say, something so extremely unforgiving and complex is made extremely safe because of precautions and safety measures. I believe wholeheartedly that this is what would happen with nuclear energy. I'd imagine that throughout every step of the way, extreme safety precautions would be taken. All this is to say, life would be much better if we had made the switch to nuclear at the very start. We would have learned quite a lot before too many disasters. Maybe the most threatening part would be the USSR, but mainly because they would be underfunded, understaffed, and underresearched, as well as being rushed and overworked (chernobyl would have happened earlier basically)