Annual Estimated Deaths by Energy Source

Normalizing deaths by energy used is the best way to compare the safety of various power sources.  Here is the data.

Estimated worldwide number of deaths per terawatt hour of energy consumed due to various energy sources.  This multiple-year average includes fatalities from power plant catastrophes, effects of pollution/radiation and construction/manufacture of each power source.  The number of car deaths per TWH of energy used to power our automobiles in the U.S.  shows the level of risk individuals are willing to take.  For reference, the U.S. consumes 1 TWH of energy about every 20 minutes.

To get a sense of what this means, consider traffic fatalities for reference.  Americans log more driving miles per capita than any other country, so we are willing to take the risks of braving the highways.  Below, I estimate the risk level that Americans are willing to take per unit of energy use from the number of automobile deaths per TWH (trillion watt hours) of energy used.  This value is added to the graph above as a comparison with actual numbers from various energy sources.

The energy contained in a gallon of gas is 33.7 KWH.  At a fuel efficiency of 25MPG, cars consume 1.35 KWH per mile driven.  There are 1.16 deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven, which comes out to 8.6 deaths per TWH of energy consumed.