How green is nuclear energy? - 6 Minute English
Aug 10, 2023
How green is nuclear energy? - 6 Minute English
Improve your English vocabulary and listening in just six minutes!https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish …
Content
7.76 -> Hello. This is 6 Minute
9.12 -> English from
9.84 -> BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
12 -> And I'm Sam.
With winter here, the rising
15.12 -> price of oil and natural gas
17.04 -> has become a hot topic.
At the same time, climate
20.32 -> change is also reaching
21.68 -> emergency levels, and world
23.52 -> leaders are looking for ways to
25.28 -> reduce our consumption of
26.72 -> fossil fuels. Some think
28.72 -> the best option is
29.92 -> renewables - types of natural
32 -> energy, such as wind and
33.44 -> solar power, which can be
35.04 -> replaced as quickly as
36.72 -> they are used.
Others prefer a return to
39.2 -> nuclear energy, arguing that
41.2 -> it's clean, green and more
43.2 -> reliable that renewables.
44.96 -> But after infamous nuclear
46.96 -> disasters like those at
48.32 -> Chernobyl and Fukushima,
50 -> questions about its
51.12 -> safety remain.
In this programme, we'll
53.84 -> be finding out how green
55.68 -> nuclear power is by asking:
58.32 -> when it comes to the climate,
60.24 -> is nuclear a friend or foe?
But before that, Sam, it's
64.72 -> time for my quiz question.
66.64 -> Many of the nuclear power
68 -> stations built since the
69.2 -> 1960s are reaching the end
71.52 -> of their planned life, and
73.28 -> not everyone thinks they
74.56 -> should be replaced.
76.16 -> In 2011, one country
78.16 -> announced that it would
79.12 -> phase out - meaning
80.48 -> gradually stop using - nuclear
82.56 -> power altogether.
84.24 -> But which country?
85.92 -> Was it: a) Germany
87.76 -> b) India or c) Brazil?
I'll go with a) Germany.
93.12 -> OK, Sam. We'll reveal the
94.72 -> correct answer later
96.32 -> in the programme.
As Neil mentioned, whatever
98.96 -> the advantages of nuclear
100.4 -> power for the climate,
102 -> many members of the public
103.52 -> have concerns about
104.72 -> nuclear safety.
Probably the most
107.28 -> well-known nuclear accident
108.88 -> happened on the 26th of
110.24 -> April 1986 at the
112.08 -> Chernobyl nuclear power
113.44 -> plant in Soviet Ukraine.
Dutch journalist Mirjam Vossen
117.92 -> reflects on what happened
119.12 -> with BBC World Service
120.56 -> programme, The Real Story.
The perceptions of nuclear
125.12 -> energy of, I think, a whole
127.04 -> generation have been shaped
128.88 -> by high impact events,
131.2 -> most notably the Chernobyl
132.56 -> disaster... including myself.
135.44 -> I have vivid memories of how
137.52 -> the media reported on this
139.12 -> event and how scary it was
140.96 -> and how frightened everyone
142.16 -> was of the radioactive
143.92 -> clouds drifting from the
145.6 -> Ukraine towards Europe.
147.44 -> So, this is, sort of,
148.72 -> ingrained in people's minds,
150.56 -> and for many it hasn't
151.84 -> been - really been updated.
It was a frightening time,
155.6 -> and Mirjam says she has
157.28 -> vivid memories - memories
158.88 -> that produce powerful
160.08 -> feelings and strong,
161.84 -> clear images in the mind.
The accident in Chernobyl
165.12 -> changed many people's opinions
166.8 -> of nuclear power in a
168.08 -> negative way, and these
169.92 -> opinions became ingrained -
172.32 -> strongly held and difficult
174.32 -> to change. But Mirjam
176 -> believes these ingrained
177.52 -> public perceptions of nuclear
179.2 -> safety are out-of-date.
181.52 -> She argues that such
182.8 -> accidents caused by human
184.56 -> error could not happen
186.16 -> in the modern nuclear
187.52 -> power stations used today.
What's more, nuclear creates
191.12 -> a steady supply
192.08 -> of power - unlike
193.28 -> renewables, which don't make
194.96 -> electricity when the wind
196.24 -> doesn't blow, or the Sun
197.6 -> doesn't shine.
So maybe nuclear power is
200.96 -> the greenest way of generating
202.72 -> energy without fossil fuels.
Well, not according to
206.4 -> Energy Institute researcher
207.84 -> Paul Dorfman. Nuclear power
210.16 -> stations are located near
211.92 -> seas or large lakes because
213.92 -> they need water to cool down.
216.24 -> Paul thinks that soon rising
218.08 -> seas levels will mean the
219.44 -> end of nuclear as a
220.8 -> realistic energy option.
He thinks money invested in
224.48 -> nuclear upgrades would be
225.84 -> better spent making clean
227.68 -> renewables more reliable
229.52 -> instead, as he explained to
231.68 -> BBC World Service programme,
233.68 -> The Real Story.
I think the key takeaway
237.12 -> is that nuclear's low
238.72 -> carbon electricity unique
240.24 -> selling point kind of
241.76 -> sits in the context of
242.72 -> a much larger picture
244.8 -> that nuclear will be one
246.32 -> of the first and most
247.28 -> significant casualties
248.96 -> to ramping climate change.
250.8 -> So, nuclear's quite
252.64 -> literally on the front
254.08 -> line of climate change
255.2 -> and not in a good way - that's
256.56 -> because far from helping
258.88 -> with our climate change
259.92 -> problems, it'll add to it.
One advantage of nuclear power
264.56 -> is that it produces electricity
266.32 -> using little carbon.
267.68 -> Paul Dorfman calls this
269.04 -> its unique selling point.
A unique selling point,
272.64 -> which is sometimes
273.6 -> shortened to 'USP', is a
276.32 -> common way to describe
277.68 -> the feature of something
278.8 -> that makes it different
280 -> from and better than
282.48 -> its competitors.
But that doesn't change
284.88 -> the fact that rising
286 -> sea levels would make
287.36 -> nuclear an unrealistic,
288.8 -> even dangerous, choice.
290.48 -> This is why he calls nuclear
292.08 -> power a casualty of climate
294.16 -> change, meaning a victim,
295.76 -> or something that suffers
297.28 -> as a result of something
298.64 -> else happening.
This also explains why some
301.52 -> countries are now turning away
303.12 -> from nuclear power towards
304.88 -> more renewable energy
306.24 -> sources - countries
307.28 -> such as... well, what was
309.36 -> the answer to your
310.16 -> quiz question, Neil?
I asked Sam which country
312.8 -> decided to gradually stop
314.56 -> using nuclear power.
315.92 -> I said a) Germany.
Which was the correct answer!
319.76 -> In fact, around 70% of
322.24 -> Germany's electricity now
323.52 -> comes from renewables.
OK, Neil, let's recap the
326.8 -> rest of the vocabulary
327.92 -> from this programme, starting
329.6 -> with to phase something out,
332 -> meaning to gradually
333.12 -> stop using something.
Vivid memories are memories
336.32 -> that produce powerful feelings
337.92 -> and strong mental images.
Opinions and beliefs
341.12 -> which are ingrained are
342.8 -> so strongly held that
344.32 -> they are difficult
345.12 -> to change.
Something's unique selling
347.68 -> point, or USP, is the
349.44 -> feature that makes it
350.56 -> different from and better
351.92 -> than its competitors.
And finally, a casualty
355.28 -> is a person or thing that
357.04 -> suffers as a result of
358.4 -> something else happening.
That's all for this look
361.52 -> into nuclear and
362.48 -> renewable energy.
363.84 -> Bye for now!
Goodbye!
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naB_3XYRtew
