Uranium & plutonium are the radioactive elements used in nuclear reactors. This data is a bit difficult to find in some of the links posted. I think there are some other radioactive materials which could be used, but am not sure. Uranium & plutonium are used due to being the best for the purpose. There might be some radioactive elements which are better (radium, perhaps), but are not available in large enough quantities.
Plutonium is only used in Breeder reactors. It is produced by the reactor & then used for fuel.
Breeder reactors have a lot of advantages, but are a small percentage of existing reactors. The plutonium produced is used in nuclear weapons & politicians pay too much attention to those who are hysterical about nuclear anything, especially weapons.
We should be using more nuclear power.
Nuclear reactors cannot explode like nuclear weapons. There are ignoranuses (deliberate misspelling) who do not know this.
Nuclear accidents are exaggerated by the news mdeia. They are financial disasters, but not human death/injury disasters. A plane crash or fire in a residential area can easily cause more death & injury than a nuclear power plant accident.
Wind tubines & other methods advocated by the green people might never be practical.
Nuclear actually causes less environmental impact than fossil fuels.
In 1000 years nuclear will not kill or sicken more than a very small percentage of those affected by the coal industry. I am not familiar with any data, but nuclear might have a slightly better health record than the petroleum industry. Refinery fires do not capture the imagination like nuclear disasters.
It is silly to continue depending so heavily on oil.
The radioactive waste from a breeder reactor is much less radioactive than the waste from an ordinary reactor, cutting down considerably on the problems of disposal & long term storage.
France gets about 75% of its power from nuclear & has had no serious problems so far.
Nuclear power plants in the Ring of Fire seem to require much different designs & far more extensive safety precautions than plants built elsewhere. This is a no brainer & not just hindsight.
I am astonished that the Japanese plants seem to be pretty much the same as nuclear plants elsewhere. I wonder if the US has any near seismic faults. I know there are some plants in California, but am not sure how close they are to the San Andreas & other faults.