I too would prefer something other than nuclear for the long run (see chapter 19). But we have to survivce the short run to get there and that means retiring coal quickly. Nuclear is the only power option that can be constructed quickly, a billion watts at a time. It has also, Chernobyl excepted, been the safest power source, averaging only one death per year for 50 years. Coal mining kills 5,000 miners every year in China.