More than two years after three reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan were damaged in a mega-earthquake followed by a tsunami, the situation has surprisingly worsened. There are concerns about the validity of previous information released by Japanese authorities. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority announced that the radiation level of a water leak at the plant reached its highest level ever — exposure to the radiation for just a few hours is deadly.

A year after the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Gallup’s annual environmental survey found that 57 percent of Americans were in favor of nuclear power. This figure hardly changed over the eight years that Gallup followed American opinion on nuclear energy — the percentage of Americans in favor was 57 percent in 1994, with a high of 62 percent in 2008 and a low of 48 percent in 2001. Perhaps, given the dramatic new information on Fukushima, the American public should reassess its stance on nuclear energy policy.

Nuclear power is sometimes said to be a clean energy source because its power plants do not emit carbon dioxide. A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology found that nuclear power has prevented 1.84 million deaths that would otherwise have been lost to greenhouse gases since the 1970s.

Although nuclear power reduces carbon dioxide levels, the processes of building and maintaining the nuclear plants, as well as the transportation of unrecyclable radioactive waste, emit large amounts of carbon dioxide. In addition, nuclear technology releases greenhouse gases and harmful radioactive substances that threaten humans and the environment.

The nuclear disaster in Japan has not been properly addressed by U.S. politicians, which has allowed the public to resort to memories of disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. However, with 24 proposed reactors under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, nuclear power represents both an opportunity and a threat to U.S. national security. The debate needs to be resurrected by the U.S. media and President Barack Obama’s administration. For a president who entered the White House on a mandate promoting sustainable energy, greater discussion is urgently required.

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Aug. 5 print edition. Raj Mathur is a contributing columnist. Email him at [email protected].