Nuclear power: why is it so unpopular?
Nuclear power: why is it so unpopular?
The meltdown at a nuclear power station in Fukushima, Japan, ten years ago stoked anxieties about nuclear energy. But nuclear is one of the safest, most reliable and sustainable forms of energy, and decarbonising will be much more difficult without it.
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Content
3.36 -> nuclear technology
4.799 -> doesn't get great publicity
13.04 -> in blockbuster films it creates
14.96 -> terrifying monsters such as godzilla
17.199 -> and the hulk it's characterized by
20.88 -> incompetence
21.76 -> in cult tv shows like the simpsons
25.199 -> and the hit hbo series chernobyl what
27.68 -> did you do
28.8 -> i did what you said i swear look at it
31.359 -> and it's normally in the news
32.88 -> because something has gone wrong it's an
35.04 -> atomic fire and the soviets can't
37.2 -> contain it
37.92 -> a third explosion at the fukushima power
40.48 -> plant japanese prime minister says
42.079 -> radioactive levels around the plant are
43.84 -> high
46.64 -> but nuclear energy is safe reasonably
49.6 -> reliable
50.399 -> and efficient without it it'll be much
53.76 -> harder to fight climate change
56.559 -> so why does nuclear power still only
58.719 -> make up 10
60 -> of global electricity generation
62.29 -> [Music]
69.91 -> [Laughter]
71.6 -> the natural power of the universe is
73.84 -> harnessed in the new atomic bomb
76.159 -> its tremendous possibilities are
77.84 -> explained in 1945
79.84 -> nuclear's full unimaginable power was
82.479 -> demonstrated to the world
85.119 -> eight years later president eisenhower
87.68 -> proposed using nuclear energy
89.6 -> as a way to redeem humankind for having
91.84 -> brought such an awful technology
93.92 -> into existence united states knows that
97.2 -> peaceful power from atomic energy is no
100.56 -> dream of the future that capability
103.52 -> already proved
104.64 -> is here now today
108.079 -> when the nuclear reactors first um open
110.88 -> there's a
112.079 -> there's a big futuristic buzz about them
115.439 -> this is when jet planes are new nuclear
117.52 -> reactors are new
118.799 -> we're short just short of the age of the
121.2 -> satellite so this is very much a symbol
122.88 -> of modernity
124.24 -> and it's also a symbol in some eyes of
126.84 -> peace
129.36 -> in 1956 the world's first commercial
132.48 -> nuclear power station
133.92 -> was opened in britain by the end of the
136.879 -> 1960s
138.56 -> 78 reactors had been built across 14
141.599 -> countries
143.88 -> [Music]
149.92 -> nuclear reactors generate power through
152.08 -> nuclear fission
153.519 -> a process where uranium atoms are split
156.4 -> and release energy
159.84 -> in the center of an atom is its nucleus
162.239 -> which contains protons
163.76 -> and neutrons in the process of nuclear
167.36 -> fission
168 -> one of these nuclei breaks apart
170.8 -> producing smaller nuclei
172.64 -> some neutrons and some energy
176.239 -> if one of the neutrons hits another
177.92 -> nucleus it too will break apart
180.48 -> in what is known as a chain reaction to
183.519 -> ensure the chain reaction takes place at
185.599 -> the right speed
186.8 -> and the power plant doesn't overheat
189.12 -> control rods
190.159 -> made of neutron absorbing materials are
192.4 -> lowered into the reactor
196.08 -> in most reactors they sit in water which
199.04 -> acts as a moderator
201.519 -> slowing down the neutrons and helping
203.519 -> control the rate of the reaction
206.159 -> the energy from the chain reaction
207.92 -> produces a huge amount of heat
210.159 -> which most reactors use to turn water
212.799 -> into steam
216.319 -> nuclear power plants are basically very
218.319 -> large kettles they take water and they
220.64 -> heat it up a lot and then the heated
222.4 -> water the steam
223.599 -> can drive turbines and that's kind of
226.159 -> what a
226.799 -> coal power plant or a gas power plant
228.959 -> does too but nuclear does it very
230.879 -> efficiently and it does it with far less
232.72 -> fuel because uranium has an awful lot of
234.64 -> energy in it whereas coal and gas have
236.64 -> comparatively little
238 -> so you can fuel uh a nuclear reactor
241.2 -> with you know tons of fuel rather than
243.439 -> thousands of tons of fuel
246.56 -> um it's it's like an invisible force
248.879 -> isn't it what happens if there is an
250.319 -> accident we've got
251.28 -> we've got no chance and if it's
252.84 -> uncontrollable it's going to
254.56 -> cause some harm in it
257.84 -> so what damaged nuclear power's
259.84 -> reputation
261.759 -> to understand we need to go back to
263.68 -> where we left off in the nuclear boom of
265.84 -> the 1960s
268.4 -> initially some environmentalists were
270.56 -> supporters of nuclear energy
272.96 -> they saw it as an alternative to
274.72 -> flooding values for hydroelectric power
278.08 -> but then they changed their minds for
280.08 -> that warning canterbury one
281.919 -> canterbury two candidates in the 1960s
284.8 -> some people begin to worry that nuclear
286.88 -> power stations
288.08 -> just in their everyday running
291.12 -> will poison the world this is
294.639 -> not remotely true but it becomes part of
296.96 -> a campaign
299.04 -> but the big worry comes um i think in
302.16 -> the early 1970s when people start
304.24 -> worrying that a nuclear accident is in
306.32 -> some ways
306.96 -> like an atomic bomb going off and you've
309.039 -> got to remember there's a
310.24 -> there's a lot of other pessimism going
313.28 -> around in the early 70s
315.759 -> people are having a crisis of um trust
318.16 -> and authority
320.56 -> there's a general feeling of paranoia
322.96 -> and nothing
324.16 -> nothing speaks to feelings of paranoia
326 -> like radiation because radiation
328.16 -> is invisible and it could be all around
331.28 -> you and you'll never know
342.479 -> the result was a backlash against
344.4 -> nuclear
347.36 -> further fueled by the release in 1979
350.4 -> of a film called the china syndrome
352.8 -> which vividly portrays an accident at a
355.199 -> nuclear power station
356.8 -> the thing about the china syndrome other
358.8 -> than it's pretty good sort of like
360.4 -> example of that sort of like 1970s
362.319 -> paranoid filmmaking
363.919 -> is that it comes out more or less at
365.52 -> exactly the same time as there is a
366.88 -> nuclear accident through my eye
368.45 -> [Music]
369.6 -> the two water pumps that help cool
371.44 -> reactor number two shut down
373.84 -> officials say some 50 to 60 thousand
376.479 -> gallons of radioactive water
378.4 -> escaped into the reactor building
382.479 -> this was followed by the infamous
384 -> meltdown at chernobyl in 1986
388.24 -> and then in 2011 a tsunami led to an
391.039 -> accident at a nuclear power station in
393.199 -> fukushima
394.08 -> japan each accident
397.12 -> stoked fears about nuclear power after
400.24 -> fukushima
401.28 -> nuclear had the lowest global public
403.36 -> support of all energy sources
405.84 -> even lower than coal
407.97 -> [Music]
410.96 -> but nuclear power is one of the safest
413.28 -> forms of energy production
415.36 -> although the official death toll linked
417.199 -> to fukushima stands at almost 600
420.319 -> all of these fatalities bar one were
423.12 -> attributed to the stress
424.639 -> of the evacuation had a full-scale
428.08 -> meltdown at fukushima
429.599 -> and that didn't kill people i caused a
433.12 -> huge bill for cleaning up but it didn't
435.84 -> kill people
436.72 -> so in normal operation and these days
439.12 -> even when breaking down
440.639 -> a well-regulated nuclear power plant is
442.96 -> not a dangerous object
446.08 -> compared to other forms of energy
447.68 -> production the death rate from nuclear
449.68 -> energy
450.319 -> is very low on average it kills one
453.039 -> person
453.599 -> every 14 years in fact in 2013
458.08 -> climatologists james hansen and pushka
460.72 -> korecha
461.68 -> calculated that the use of nuclear power
464.08 -> between 1971
465.68 -> and 2009 prevented the deaths of 1.84
469.52 -> million people
470.879 -> thanks to its air pollution benefits
474.56 -> the fear that nuclear plants emit
476.16 -> dangerous levels of radiation
478 -> is overblown the only accident which
481.28 -> released high levels of radiation and
483.12 -> caused significant harm to public health
485.44 -> was chernobyl but it was a not very good
488.4 -> nuclear plant being run in a terrible
490.24 -> way
491.68 -> people worry about radiation but in
494.24 -> general
494.96 -> nuclear power stations do not release
497.28 -> radiation
502.56 -> a more substantial concern centers on
505.199 -> nuclear fuel
507.759 -> nuclear power stations need nuclear fuel
510.72 -> and
511.039 -> normally that nuclear fuel has to be
512.959 -> something that's been enriched
514.719 -> now that enrichment process is also the
517.12 -> process that you use
518.399 -> to make nuclear weapons
524.1 -> [Music]
527.36 -> nuclear weapons can also be made by
529.44 -> extracting plutonium from spent nuclear
531.839 -> fuel
532.959 -> this means countries can use power
534.8 -> stations as a cover-up
536.24 -> for developing weaponry risking the
538.72 -> spread of atomic weapons
540.16 -> to nations not recognized as nuclear
542.32 -> weapon states
543.279 -> in the non-proliferation treaty
548.48 -> most people with nuclear power stations
550.399 -> are not proliferation risks
552 -> they either have nuclear weapons um or
555.44 -> clearly don't really want nuclear
557.12 -> weapons what you worry about is when you
559.6 -> have a
560.08 -> country that you're that is in an
561.839 -> unstable part of the world and starts
563.44 -> getting interested in nuclear technology
566.56 -> perhaps the most worrying example is
568.8 -> iran
570.56 -> since the 1980s western governments have
573.12 -> been concerned that iran will use its
575.12 -> uranium enrichment programme
577.04 -> for military purposes to tehran this is
580.24 -> a peaceful civilian enterprise
582.32 -> but some around the world fear it may
584.16 -> lead to the development of a nuclear
585.68 -> weapon
586.07 -> [Music]
588.48 -> but developing nuclear weapons from
590.24 -> civilian programs is difficult
593.04 -> reactors only need uranium enriched to
595.76 -> about four percent
597.76 -> nuclear weapons can need levels of
599.6 -> around 90
602.079 -> and while extracting plutonium is
603.92 -> slightly easier
605.36 -> any country planning to launch a new
607.279 -> nuclear power industry
608.88 -> will attract close attention from bodies
611.44 -> like the international atomic energy
613.96 -> [Music]
616.839 -> agency
618.48 -> but ultimately the reason nuclear power
620.8 -> is not used more widely
622.56 -> stems from one crucial factor it's
625.44 -> really expensive
627.839 -> nuclear power stations are very large
630.72 -> fairly complex
632.48 -> systems which you have to build very
634.56 -> precisely
635.76 -> they're huge construction projects which
638.399 -> drag out over time
639.839 -> and that drives up the cost
643.36 -> for nuclear reactors completed between
645.68 -> 2016 and 2019
647.92 -> the median construction time was almost
650.24 -> 17 years
652.72 -> the cost can be kept to some extent
655.04 -> contained if you make a lot of something
658.079 -> and that's to some extent the secret of
659.92 -> the success of the french program the
661.519 -> french
661.92 -> chose a specific design and made a lot
664 -> of it
666.079 -> the chinese are doing something similar
669.519 -> in america there was never any
671.2 -> standardization that's one of the
672.72 -> reasons
673.519 -> why the cost got completely out of
674.8 -> control in the 1970s
677.839 -> and that helps explain why the number of
679.68 -> active reactors around the world
681.44 -> has hardly changed since the 1980s
686.24 -> and a quarter of existing nuclear
687.839 -> reactors in advanced economies
689.839 -> are expected to close by 2025.
698.399 -> nuclear power has also become a less
700.56 -> attractive option
701.6 -> as renewables such as solar and wind
704.32 -> have fallen in cost
705.76 -> [Music]
708.16 -> but tackling climate change with just
710.24 -> renewables is much more challenging
714.399 -> it is a lot easier to decarbonize an
717.519 -> electricity system
719.12 -> if you have a certain amount of what's
722.24 -> often called
723.04 -> firm generating capacity that you can
724.959 -> rely on to be there
726.72 -> and nuclear supporters will tell you
729.2 -> that nuclear
730 -> is a very good example of that
731.52 -> [Music]
734.8 -> some advocates of nuclear power also
737.04 -> hope that a new approach
738.639 -> called advanced nuclear technology could
741.279 -> address the high cost
742.56 -> of nuclear energy this involves smaller
746 -> reactors which can be built off site
748.72 -> making them much cheaper and quicker to
750.72 -> construct
752.88 -> it would be a big investment to actually
755.76 -> build an experiment
757.2 -> and i'm not sure that it's the most
759.76 -> timely thing
760.72 -> i think that you know nuclear power
762.48 -> plants that are currently quite new will
764.72 -> probably keep running
766.16 -> a lot longer than i will but the idea
769.36 -> that we can have what used to be called
771.36 -> basically until fukushima
772.959 -> a nuclear renaissance that nuclear
774.639 -> renaissance hasn't happened
778.639 -> without a dramatic reduction in costs
780.88 -> it's unlikely
781.839 -> nuclear will ever reach the same heady
783.92 -> heights of the 1960s boom
786.959 -> perhaps if the environmentalists then
789.36 -> had known how powerful a threat
791.12 -> climate change would become the outcome
793.68 -> for nuclear
794.639 -> might have been very different i'm
797.68 -> oliver morton briefings editor at the
799.44 -> economist
800.72 -> to read our report on the lessons of
802.56 -> fukushima please click on the link
804.639 -> opposite
805.839 -> and if you've enjoyed this please
807.279 -> subscribe to our channel for more
816.72 -> you
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sjo1B3j_JM