Is geothermal energy better than nuclear energy?

Geothermal works well and is arguably better than nuclear in locations where geothermal is feasible (see another of my answers here). Pros of geothermal Geothermal requires far less start-up cost. read more

Nuclear energy can operate at a much higher temperature already and some new designs will be even hotter, so nuclear is a clearly better on that scale. The locations where geothermal energy can be tapped are very limited. read more

Geothermal energy requires no combustion; its energy already exists as heat. 1 Capital costs for geothermal installations are lower than for comparable-size fossil- or nuclear-fueled plants, and once a plant is built, there are no fuel costs. 2 read more

But as you can see in the graph to the right, geothermal still pales in comparison to nuclear in the U.S. energy portfolio: just one percent of the overall U.S. mix, compared to 9 percent from nuclear. read more