If you could cook the toxicity out of nuclear waste on stovetop, then you'd have a good argument.
Simply because botulism and nuclear accidents kill roughly the same number of people (depending on the time period chosen) does not address the issue of nuclear waste. It's a good way of distracting from it though...
I think we're going around in circles, my only objection is with the line of reasoning that a "connection to death" can be sufficient to reasonably discount something. I'll try to outline my good-faith understanding of where we disagree.
My argument: Support for a choice or policy should be made by one's evaluations of both its upsides and downsides. Something with big downsides could still be okay if its upsides are substantially bigger. It is irrational to make a choice based only on either the upsides or downsides of a choice. This approach should be applicable to all kinds of situations, from boring everyday ones to global policy ones.
My understanding of your argument: Support for a choice or policy can be rational based on only its upside or its downside, so long as its upside or downside is sufficient enough in magnitude. While comparing upsides and downsides might work in some scenarios (e.g. everyday scenarios, foods), it might not work in bigger-scale scenarios, such as the situation of what to do with highly toxic nuclear waste.
If that's where our disagreement does lie, I'm happy to chock it up to a difference in opinion. If I'm misunderstanding your position, that's definitely not my intent.
Simply because botulism and nuclear accidents kill roughly the same number of people (depending on the time period chosen) does not address the issue of nuclear waste. It's a good way of distracting from it though...