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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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[Narrator] We've been trained
from the very beginning

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to fear nuclear power

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and with it
our terror of radiation.

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It was
in our subconsciousness.

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There was the original sin
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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It became
a collective trauma.

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With schoolchildren responding
to nuclear alerts

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and the need for fallout
shelters.

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Having been told more
than once that civilization

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could be destroyed
in a few moments with little,

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if any, warning.

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There are movies
in the 1950s

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already picturing the doom
of man

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from radiated sea monsters,

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and all kinds
of genetically mutated

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creatures.

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No doubt,
it was the outcome for us

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who were severing Mother
Nature from human nature

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with our technology.

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It was a horrible vision.

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Bigger than any child's basic
fear of death.

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It was a death of everyone
and everything.

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The end of the world
almost happened

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in October 1962 during
the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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But President Kennedy
and Premier Nikita Khrushchev

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of the Soviet Union
mercifully backed down.

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Young people
began protesting the system

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that produced cruel wars
and nuclear weapons.

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Along with various injustices
and the destruction of nature.

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A counterculture emerged
offering a broad critique

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of American society.

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Industrial capitalism
and corporate America

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were seen as the enemy.

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Earth Day 1970
marked a visible shift

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in global consciousness,

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drawing huge crowds
who became a key rallying

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point for environmentalism
and the counterculture.

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It created broad public support

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for anti-pollution measures,

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and within this atmosphere,
the government's push

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for nuclear energy
was suddenly suspect.

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Licensing and construction
of nuclear reactors

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was ramping up,

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and the fear
of nuclear energy plants

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in your own backyard merged
into an army

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of other pollutions fouling
the earth.

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- We realize that when these
multinational corporations,

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we are going
to have uranium mining

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and uranium milling.

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We're going to have
possibly nuclear power plants,

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we're going
to possibly have high level

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nuclear waste disposal.

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[Speaker #1] No one in the world
wants nuclear waste.

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[Protester] We have
to have either oil or coal

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or whatever,
but certainly not nuclear.

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[Narrator] And as with all
emerging technologies,

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there were setbacks.

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[Anchorman] It was
the first step

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in a nuclear nightmare.

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As far as we know at this hour,
no worse than that.

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[Narrator] Three Mile Island
was the only famous

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nuclear accident
in the United States ever.

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[Anchorman] ...fifty thousand
gallons of radioactive water

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escaped into the reactor
building...

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[Narrator] Yet no one
was harmed.

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But the public was shaken.

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And the breathless news
coverage

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with no acknowledgment
of the lack of casualties.

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[Anchorwoman] Officials
of Metropolitan Edison

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conceded some workers
may have been contaminated.

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[Narrator] Stoked their fears
into a sense of urgency

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and even panic.

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[Narrator] But in a twist
of history, it happened

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just as a fictional nuclear
power disaster movie

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was in theaters.

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[Jack] Barney,
give me feedwater! Goddamn it!

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[Kimberly] No please,
let me ask a question.

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[Reporter] Tell us
what happened inside.

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[Narrator] Misinformation about
nuclear's true potential

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and safety spread rampant.

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[Unknown] If there's
one accident,

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it could just devastate an area
like southern New York State

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[Speaker #2] Nuclear power
would produce

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over 32,000 cancer deaths
per year in the United States.

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[Narrator] People
don't think well

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when they're scared.

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Fear is a mind killer.

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And all these fears
traumatized young people.

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And as momentum built
towards anti-nuclear sentiment,

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a second potentially avoidable
disaster struck.

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- [Speaking Russian]

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[Translator] We were recently
stricken by a disaster,

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the Chernobyl nuclear power
accident.

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It deeply affected
the Soviet people

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and disturbed world opinion.

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[Narrator] I too, once believed
the environmentalists

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were right
and that nuclear power

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was dangerous.

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We were in our way
terribly miseducated,

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subconsciously cross-wiring
nuclear war with nuclear power.

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And then as nuclear energy
was being quietly shunted

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to the side as an aberration
in our scientific development,

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another physical revolution
snowballed into

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the public consciousness.

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Completely eclipsing
the nuclear controversy.

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Climate change.

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It was as bad or even worse
to the imagination

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as nuclear extinction had been.

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Which in a way
we had accustomed ourselves to.

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But here now is a monster
that could, in fact,

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deliver the end of the world.

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Climate scientists
were now warning us that humans

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were destabilizing
the world's ecological systems.

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In 1988,
the congressional testimony

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of Dr. James Hansen,
a leading climate scientist,

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rang the alarm
loudly and clearly.

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- We have already reached
one tipping point,

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and we are going to lose
all of the sea ice

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in the Arctic in the summer
season.

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[Narrator] Among others,
he clarified they were burning

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more and more fossil fuels
and dumping too much carbon

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into the atmosphere.

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Mostly gases like
carbon dioxide and methane.

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These gases were raising
global temperatures

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and beginning
to change the climate.

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An outspoken minority reacted
with sarcasm and anger.

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- You know what this is?
It's a snowball.

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And that's just
from outside here.

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So it's very, very cold out,
very unseasonal.

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So, Mr. President, catch this.

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[Narrator] They thought
the notion highly exaggerated

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and overblown,
while on the other side,

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many others reacted with alarm,
demanding radical change.

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[Greta Thunberg] Hope
is taking action.

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We can still turn this around.

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It will take drastic
annual emission cuts

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unlike anything
the world has ever seen.

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[Narrator] In 2021,
the IPCC stated

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that if we didn't cut carbon
emissions by nearly 100%

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in less than 30 years,
by 2050 the world would suffer

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serious damage to ecosystems
and economies

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because we are still depending
on fossil fuels for one

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of our most basic needs.

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Electricity.

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Most of our power
still comes from burning gas

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and coal, and the amount
is going up not down.

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The resulting volume
of carbon free electricity

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needed over the next 30 years
is almost unimaginable.

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Realistic estimates range
from two to four times

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the electricity
we currently use.

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This is an even bigger problem
than we thought.

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How can we create
even more electricity

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and still cut down
on carbon dioxide emissions

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to halt the climate crisis?

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We've run out of time
to be afraid.

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It's time to look again
at a proven source of energy.

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It's time
to look again at nuclear.

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Because this incredible power,
the very thing that we fear

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is what may save us.

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An estimated five billion years
ago,

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our sun and solar system

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were formed in the aftermath
of an exploding star.

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Scientists call this kind
of explosion a supernova.

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Light, x-rays
and radio waves

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pour out in every direction

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and immense shock waves
with unimaginable energy

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fling matter
across great distances.

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A bit of that matter collided

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and became Earth.

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Hidden below the surface
of this newly formed planet

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are many elements
that were created

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in that supernova,

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including those we extract
from the earth like tin,

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copper, gold and many others.

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One of these elements
is the element of uranium.

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Packed with energy
from its creation

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in a supernova.

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It's a natural energy source
that has been there

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connecting us to our galaxy
for billions of years.

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The presence of this star power
throughout the planet,

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radiating energy
has kept the earth warm

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since before life began,
and still does.

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In 1896, five thousand years
into our recorded history,

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the Polish born Marie Curie
and her French scientist

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husband, Pierre Curie,
along with French engineer

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Henri Becquerel,

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discovered
the energy releasing property

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of certain elements
like uranium.

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[Marie] It's there.

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[Narrator] They knew then
that the whole conception

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of matter would be changed.

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That there indeed
existed a unique form of matter

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that was not inert,
that was alive

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with a superpower.

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Marie Curie named
it radioactivity.

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They could only imagine
what this volatile matter

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could become or later achieve.

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For this,
one of the greatest gifts

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nature has ever given us -
energy in a new form -

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they received
the Nobel Prize.

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Then, just a few years later,
in 1905,

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independently working
in Zurich, Switzerland,

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the theoretical physicist,
Albert Einstein,

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discovered the astounding truth
that in its simplest form,

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matter is energy waiting

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to happen and that
the earth contains more energy

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than we ever imagined.

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Liberating energy from matter
was now the new challenge.

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Scientists then discovered
that particles colliding

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with the uranium atoms
sometimes split

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the uranium
into smaller fragments

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with a large
and rapid release of energy.

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They named this process
fission, which could access

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the stored energy quickly
instead of in a slow trickle,

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as does radioactivity.

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The physics of fission were
first explained

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by the Austrian, Lise Meitner,
in 1938.

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But unfortunately that year,
through a coincidence

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of history, came on the eve
of the biggest war ever.

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And the first thing people did
with this scientific

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breakthrough was make a bomb.

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And use it.

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America's Manhattan Project,
born out of World War Two,

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created the knowledge
and fuel to build such a bomb.

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By packing uranium
together densely enough,

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scientists learned
to create a chain reaction.

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Enrico Fermi and his team,
in 1942, created the first

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controlled nuclear chain
reaction

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in a squash court under the
University of Chicago Stadium.

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The stadium did not blow up,
nor the university.

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They had built a simple device
in which a pile of graphite

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and uranium
was filled with cadmium rods

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that slowed the chain reaction.

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As the rods were removed
one by one,

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the uranium fission
chain reaction began.

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Remove more rods
and the energy increased.

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Put some rods back
in place and it decreased.

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Thus if a chain
reaction could be sustained

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and accelerated,

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it would result
in a powerful explosion.

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The good news was
that uranium's energy

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could be controlled.

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As Fermi had done
in Chicago.

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If controlled, the potential
of this new discovery

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for the benefit of society
was beyond measure.

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The first productive use
of that energy was

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to run submarines and ships.

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00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,029
Admiral Hyman Rickover was
a poor Jewish immigrant

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who once admitted to the Naval
Academy, never left the Navy.

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He had the mind of an engineer
who seeing the goal clearer

253
00:16:35,864 --> 00:16:37,648
than anyone,
cut through time

254
00:16:37,692 --> 00:16:39,911
and space to make it happen.

255
00:16:39,955 --> 00:16:42,914
The idea of solving a problem,
building something,

256
00:16:42,958 --> 00:16:46,005
creating something
drove him all his life.

257
00:16:50,487 --> 00:16:53,055
[Hyman G. Rickover] This is
the reactor or the atomic pile.

258
00:16:53,099 --> 00:16:55,362
There's uranium in here.

259
00:16:55,405 --> 00:16:56,885
[Narrator] Rickover built
the first nuclear reactor

260
00:16:56,928 --> 00:16:59,105
that fit into a submarine hull.

261
00:17:01,542 --> 00:17:04,980
The USS Nautilus was inspired
in part by Jules Verne's

262
00:17:05,023 --> 00:17:07,069
classic 19th century fable

263
00:17:07,113 --> 00:17:10,507
Twenty Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea.

264
00:17:11,290 --> 00:17:13,771
Exploring our original home
in the sea.

265
00:17:18,602 --> 00:17:22,258
Nautilus was, in its own way,
a fantasy underwater vehicle

266
00:17:22,301 --> 00:17:25,827
designed and built
by Rickover in just three years

267
00:17:25,869 --> 00:17:30,223
between 1952 and '54.

268
00:17:30,266 --> 00:17:32,834
It was a magnificent achievement

269
00:17:34,923 --> 00:17:37,447
and over the next three
decades, Rickover supervised

270
00:17:37,491 --> 00:17:39,841
the building
of hundreds of reactors

271
00:17:39,884 --> 00:17:42,061
all quickly and successfully.

272
00:17:43,453 --> 00:17:46,935
The Navy still has one hundred
of them operating now.

273
00:17:50,156 --> 00:17:53,594
More than sixty years later,
the Navy has run this fleet

274
00:17:53,637 --> 00:17:57,337
of small floating reactors
for a combined six thousand

275
00:17:57,380 --> 00:18:02,429
reactor years without a single
major nuclear related incident.

276
00:18:02,472 --> 00:18:05,432
An aircraft carrier
is a 100,000 ton,

277
00:18:05,475 --> 00:18:08,130
six thousand person city
of steel moving

278
00:18:08,174 --> 00:18:10,001
at 35 miles an hour.

279
00:18:10,741 --> 00:18:12,743
It's an awesome piece
of technology

280
00:18:12,787 --> 00:18:16,007
that's being powered
by supernova energy.

281
00:18:16,356 --> 00:18:17,487
In other words,

282
00:18:17,531 --> 00:18:19,620
a mere two reactors so compact

283
00:18:19,663 --> 00:18:24,015
that they could fit
into a large living room.

284
00:18:24,799 --> 00:18:26,670
With just one of these
reactors,

285
00:18:26,714 --> 00:18:29,499
the submarine
can stay submerged for months

286
00:18:29,543 --> 00:18:31,240
and thousands of miles.

287
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,115
It doesn't need
refueling for 25 years.

288
00:18:38,682 --> 00:18:43,122
- A fuel pellet the size
of my tip of my pinky

289
00:18:43,948 --> 00:18:48,257
has as much energy
as a ton of coal.

290
00:18:48,301 --> 00:18:53,480
The uranium to make
that pellet costs a buck or two.

291
00:18:53,523 --> 00:18:58,224
A ton of coal costs somewhere
in the neighborhood of $100.

292
00:18:58,267 --> 00:18:59,921
Huge difference.

293
00:18:59,964 --> 00:19:05,840
And nuclear operates so cleanly
you can do it underwater

294
00:19:06,971 --> 00:19:09,670
with 150 people sealed
up in a ship and having

295
00:19:09,713 --> 00:19:11,411
their power plant running.

296
00:19:11,454 --> 00:19:14,370
Now imagine trying
to operate even just

297
00:19:14,414 --> 00:19:16,894
a small gasoline engine

298
00:19:16,938 --> 00:19:19,114
in a sealed building.
It wouldn't take very long

299
00:19:19,158 --> 00:19:21,595
before you'd kill everybody.

300
00:19:21,638 --> 00:19:23,553
After I went on board
submarines,

301
00:19:23,597 --> 00:19:26,208
I recognized that all the things
that excited me

302
00:19:26,252 --> 00:19:27,644
were still there.

303
00:19:27,688 --> 00:19:30,734
And technically
it was so easy.

304
00:19:30,778 --> 00:19:33,520
The secret that nobody wants
to tell you,

305
00:19:33,563 --> 00:19:37,350
from who serves in the Navy is,
the easiest job in the Navy

306
00:19:37,393 --> 00:19:39,526
Is being a reactor operator
on a submarine.

307
00:19:39,569 --> 00:19:40,440
[Narrator] Really?

308
00:19:40,744 --> 00:19:41,919
- You don't have
to do anything,

309
00:19:42,311 --> 00:19:43,704
you're sitting there
and everything works

310
00:19:43,747 --> 00:19:44,879
and you just sit there.

311
00:19:51,407 --> 00:19:54,367
[Narrator] In a major address
at the United Nations in front

312
00:19:54,410 --> 00:19:57,935
of 3500 delegates from most
of the countries of the world,

313
00:19:57,979 --> 00:20:00,199
President Eisenhower
shared his vision

314
00:20:00,242 --> 00:20:02,462
for nuclear technology.

315
00:20:02,810 --> 00:20:04,855
[Dwight D. Eisenhower] This
greatest of destructive forces

316
00:20:04,899 --> 00:20:07,162
can be developed
into a great boon

317
00:20:07,206 --> 00:20:09,425
for the benefit of all mankind.

318
00:20:10,818 --> 00:20:13,255
[Narrator] Eisenhower proposed
that the only way to overcome

319
00:20:13,299 --> 00:20:16,389
international conflict was
to use nuclear power

320
00:20:16,432 --> 00:20:18,913
to produce cheap
and massive amounts

321
00:20:18,956 --> 00:20:20,349
of electricity.

322
00:20:22,264 --> 00:20:25,615
- Experts would be mobilized
to apply atomic energy

323
00:20:25,659 --> 00:20:28,009
to the needs of agriculture,
medicine

324
00:20:28,052 --> 00:20:30,664
and other peaceful activities.

325
00:20:30,707 --> 00:20:33,928
A special purpose would be
to provide abundant

326
00:20:33,971 --> 00:20:36,322
electrical energy
in the power starved areas

327
00:20:36,365 --> 00:20:37,627
of the world.

328
00:20:39,063 --> 00:20:42,066
Thus, the contributing powers
would be dedicating

329
00:20:42,110 --> 00:20:45,156
some of their strength
to serve the needs

330
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,594
rather than the fears
of mankind.

331
00:20:50,249 --> 00:20:52,468
[Narrator] He went on to make
probably the most

332
00:20:52,512 --> 00:20:55,950
optimistic statement
of his eight years in office.

333
00:20:55,993 --> 00:20:59,301
[Eisenhower] The United States
pledges before you to devote

334
00:20:59,345 --> 00:21:02,783
its entire heart and mind
to find the way

335
00:21:02,826 --> 00:21:06,308
by which
the miraculous inventiveness

336
00:21:06,352 --> 00:21:09,137
of man shall not be dedicated
to his death,

337
00:21:09,180 --> 00:21:11,487
but consecrated to his life.

338
00:21:15,883 --> 00:21:17,711
[Narrator] The entire assembly
of delegates

339
00:21:17,754 --> 00:21:20,627
from around the world,
including the Soviet Union,

340
00:21:20,670 --> 00:21:23,673
responded with warm
and sustained applause.

341
00:21:28,243 --> 00:21:32,291
Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace
program was born here.

342
00:21:32,552 --> 00:21:35,642
This was a most
promising moment for mankind.

343
00:21:38,166 --> 00:21:40,386
Fulfilling his pledge
to the world and turning

344
00:21:40,429 --> 00:21:43,476
to his proven team,
Eisenhower asked

345
00:21:43,519 --> 00:21:47,175
Admiral Rickover and the Navy
to build a nuclear reactor

346
00:21:47,218 --> 00:21:50,004
that could generate
civilian electricity.

347
00:21:50,047 --> 00:21:52,311
Adapting his submarine design,

348
00:21:52,746 --> 00:21:55,531
Rickover went at it
in his usual way

349
00:21:55,575 --> 00:21:57,228
and in Shippingport,
Pennsylvania,

350
00:21:57,446 --> 00:22:01,929
broke ground in 1954
and began generating in 1958.

351
00:22:07,674 --> 00:22:10,111
[Advertisement] But here
is truly the most wonderful

352
00:22:10,154 --> 00:22:13,506
and exciting thing I've ever
had the chance to talk about.

353
00:22:13,549 --> 00:22:17,423
It's the Westinghouse
Total Electric Home,

354
00:22:17,466 --> 00:22:22,253
a home where electricity does
everything, heats, cools,

355
00:22:22,297 --> 00:22:25,474
preserves
and prepares foods, entertains.

356
00:22:29,522 --> 00:22:33,177
[Narrator] The Cold War
was a period of prosperity.

357
00:22:33,221 --> 00:22:35,092
The plan was that
by the 21st century,

358
00:22:35,136 --> 00:22:38,618
the American economy would be
mostly nuclear powered

359
00:22:38,661 --> 00:22:40,576
with little, if any,
air pollution.

360
00:22:40,924 --> 00:22:43,927
No climate gases
and grids of plentiful,

361
00:22:43,971 --> 00:22:47,061
clean electricity criss-
crossing the country.

362
00:22:48,976 --> 00:22:52,283
New York City was going
to be powered by nuclear

363
00:22:52,545 --> 00:22:54,416
reactors, the first of which
was being built upriver

364
00:22:54,460 --> 00:22:55,809
at Indian Point.

365
00:22:57,114 --> 00:22:59,682
Carbon emission
would drop substantially.

366
00:23:01,031 --> 00:23:02,946
You would be
in the process of electrifying

367
00:23:02,990 --> 00:23:04,731
our entire country.

368
00:23:04,774 --> 00:23:08,082
Futurists imagine modern,
all-electric cities

369
00:23:08,125 --> 00:23:10,998
with electric heat, light
and air conditioning

370
00:23:11,041 --> 00:23:12,869
in our homes and buildings.

371
00:23:13,392 --> 00:23:16,133
Electric trains would
replace diesel

372
00:23:16,177 --> 00:23:18,614
and new transportation systems
would evolve.

373
00:23:21,443 --> 00:23:23,619
Westinghouse and
General Electric followed

374
00:23:23,663 --> 00:23:27,406
in Rickover's tracks
and from the late 1960s

375
00:23:27,449 --> 00:23:32,193
to the '80s, built almost 100
large reactors.

376
00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:37,764
Other countries followed.

377
00:23:37,807 --> 00:23:40,331
France embracing
the vision of its president,

378
00:23:40,375 --> 00:23:43,291
Charles de Gaulle,
opened its first

379
00:23:43,334 --> 00:23:47,382
nuclear power plant
in 1964, at Chinon.

380
00:23:48,296 --> 00:23:52,039
And then from 1975 to '90,
in response

381
00:23:52,082 --> 00:23:57,218
to the escalating price of oil
in the crisis of 1973,

382
00:23:57,261 --> 00:24:00,917
built 56 reactors
in 15 years.

383
00:24:03,267 --> 00:24:06,314
Sweden built a dozen reactors
on four sites

384
00:24:06,357 --> 00:24:08,447
in the '70s and '80s.

385
00:24:08,490 --> 00:24:11,798
Six of those plants continue
to operate today,

386
00:24:12,059 --> 00:24:15,366
producing 30% of Sweden's
electricity and most

387
00:24:15,410 --> 00:24:19,588
of the rest coming from hydro,
wind and biofuels.

388
00:24:21,808 --> 00:24:25,768
Sweden during this time cut
its carbon emissions by 50%.

389
00:24:25,812 --> 00:24:27,814
And contrary to what
many critics claimed

390
00:24:27,857 --> 00:24:30,469
would be a disaster
for its economy,

391
00:24:30,512 --> 00:24:34,516
electricity generation more
than doubled and its economy

392
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:36,823
actually expanded by 50%.

393
00:24:38,738 --> 00:24:42,306
The same is true for Canada,
which built 19 reactors

394
00:24:42,350 --> 00:24:43,743
of Canadian design,

395
00:24:45,484 --> 00:24:47,616
mostly in the industrial
heartland of Ontario province,

396
00:24:47,660 --> 00:24:50,140
which in those years
switched off coal

397
00:24:50,184 --> 00:24:52,491
and reduced emissions by 90%.

398
00:24:54,101 --> 00:24:56,495
West Germany launched
its first commercial reactor

399
00:24:56,538 --> 00:24:58,801
in 1969, and by 2010,

400
00:24:58,845 --> 00:25:01,282
22% of the electricity

401
00:25:01,325 --> 00:25:04,633
of a reunited Germany
came from nuclear.

402
00:25:05,634 --> 00:25:08,245
Japan, which imported
its first commercial reactor

403
00:25:08,289 --> 00:25:12,511
from England in 1966,
had five operating reactors

404
00:25:12,554 --> 00:25:16,166
going by 1973
and was expanding construction

405
00:25:16,210 --> 00:25:17,516
with a major program.

406
00:25:19,169 --> 00:25:21,476
By the end of the '70s Japan
had become an expert

407
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,348
in standardized designs
and exporting nuclear

408
00:25:24,392 --> 00:25:26,481
to other countries in Asia.

409
00:25:29,223 --> 00:25:31,442
But the world's first
nuclear power plant

410
00:25:31,486 --> 00:25:33,270
to ever produce
clean electricity

411
00:25:33,314 --> 00:25:37,361
was actually built back in 1954
by the Soviets.

412
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,757
[Speaker #3] The atomic power
station has become one

413
00:25:41,801 --> 00:25:45,456
of the operating industrial
plants of the USSR.

414
00:25:46,153 --> 00:25:49,417
[Narrator] The Obninsk Nuclear
Power Plant today stands

415
00:25:49,460 --> 00:25:53,682
as a museum and a monument
to clean energy

416
00:25:53,726 --> 00:25:55,292
and the power of the atom.

417
00:25:55,597 --> 00:25:58,078
[Speaker #3] The process
of uranium nuclear fission

418
00:25:58,121 --> 00:26:02,038
releasing atomic energy
takes place in this reactor.

419
00:26:04,650 --> 00:26:07,391
[Narrator] Many important
world figures visited the plant

420
00:26:07,435 --> 00:26:09,176
in operation,

421
00:26:09,219 --> 00:26:11,744
including three high level
American delegations

422
00:26:11,787 --> 00:26:15,530
curious about its usages
for industrial production,

423
00:26:15,574 --> 00:26:18,925
as well as any signals
for use in war.

424
00:26:18,968 --> 00:26:20,491
They could find none.

425
00:26:23,190 --> 00:26:25,366
But it was a signal
from the Soviet Union

426
00:26:25,409 --> 00:26:28,108
in the middle of the Cold War,
a demonstration of their

427
00:26:28,151 --> 00:26:30,240
peaceful intentions.

428
00:26:30,545 --> 00:26:33,069
Especially after
Eisenhower's speech asking

429
00:26:33,113 --> 00:26:38,335
for a shared nuclear knowhow
for the benefit of all mankind.

430
00:26:38,379 --> 00:26:40,381
[Speaker #4] Atoms are working
for peace.

431
00:26:44,254 --> 00:26:49,564
[Narrator] This mid-century
dream of a fuel efficient world

432
00:26:51,131 --> 00:26:57,180
run by clean atomic energy,
without fossil fuels.

433
00:26:58,442 --> 00:27:01,010
It was all within our grasp.

434
00:27:01,054 --> 00:27:04,797
So what happened
to this promising moment?

435
00:27:09,758 --> 00:27:13,327
Eisenhower's 1953 vision
of Atoms for Peace

436
00:27:13,370 --> 00:27:16,678
was a mortal threat to the rich
and powerful coal

437
00:27:16,722 --> 00:27:18,637
and oil industries,

438
00:27:18,985 --> 00:27:21,248
and they were ready
to challenge nuclear energy

439
00:27:21,291 --> 00:27:22,553
from the beginning.

440
00:27:24,251 --> 00:27:27,515
The giant oil companies
nicknamed the Seven Sisters

441
00:27:27,558 --> 00:27:30,518
straddling all the world's
markets since early

442
00:27:30,561 --> 00:27:33,303
in the century,
spent a great deal of money

443
00:27:33,347 --> 00:27:38,526
to present themselves
as necessary to our prosperity.

444
00:27:38,569 --> 00:27:42,095
America's iconic oil family,
the Rockefellers,

445
00:27:42,791 --> 00:27:46,099
through their foundation,
set about promoting the idea

446
00:27:46,142 --> 00:27:50,538
that low level
radiation harms human health.

447
00:27:50,581 --> 00:27:52,845
[Adams] And so they set up
a committee to study

448
00:27:52,888 --> 00:27:55,935
the biological effects
of atomic radiation and kind

449
00:27:55,978 --> 00:27:59,895
of put their thumb on the scale
for what the committee's results

450
00:27:59,939 --> 00:28:00,809
would be.

451
00:28:01,941 --> 00:28:03,594
And then they took one
of the directors

452
00:28:03,812 --> 00:28:08,121
from the Rockefeller Foundation,
a guy named Warren Weaver,

453
00:28:08,164 --> 00:28:11,211
was put in charge
of this genetics committee.

454
00:28:11,254 --> 00:28:14,388
And, not surprising to me,
the report from

455
00:28:14,431 --> 00:28:19,045
the Genetics Committee came out
on June 12th, 1956,

456
00:28:19,349 --> 00:28:21,612
and said radiation
all the way down

457
00:28:21,656 --> 00:28:24,267
to a single gamma ray
was hazardous to your health.

458
00:28:24,877 --> 00:28:28,794
The Rockefeller Foundation
included the publisher

459
00:28:28,837 --> 00:28:31,448
of The New York Times,
Arthur Sulzberger.

460
00:28:31,492 --> 00:28:34,321
So if they wanted
to help sway public opinion,

461
00:28:34,364 --> 00:28:36,627
they didn't need
to buy ads necessarily.

462
00:28:36,671 --> 00:28:39,108
They just helped
get a particular point

463
00:28:39,152 --> 00:28:40,980
of view published.

464
00:28:41,763 --> 00:28:44,723
[Narrator] The resulting fear
of low level radiation,

465
00:28:44,766 --> 00:28:47,551
which has never garnered
evidence to justify it,

466
00:28:47,595 --> 00:28:51,512
began to erode the optimism
around this new industry.

467
00:28:55,777 --> 00:28:57,779
The Sierra Club
promoted nuclear power

468
00:28:57,823 --> 00:28:59,738
before it opposed it.

469
00:28:59,781 --> 00:29:03,567
The club was an old
organization founded in 1892,

470
00:29:03,611 --> 00:29:07,441
primarily devoted to hiking,
climbing and exploring nature.

471
00:29:09,748 --> 00:29:13,055
Will Siri,
a biophysicist from Berkeley,

472
00:29:13,099 --> 00:29:16,232
an experienced mountaineer
and a veteran of Oppenheimer's

473
00:29:16,276 --> 00:29:19,105
Manhattan Project,
had been influential

474
00:29:19,148 --> 00:29:21,803
in conserving
the California redwoods

475
00:29:21,847 --> 00:29:23,326
and the Grand Canyon.

476
00:29:24,023 --> 00:29:26,503
Like many early
conservationists,

477
00:29:26,547 --> 00:29:29,376
he strongly favored
nuclear energy and arranged

478
00:29:29,419 --> 00:29:31,204
for the club's blessing
to the opening

479
00:29:31,465 --> 00:29:35,991
of California's Diablo Canyon
reactor in San Luis Obispo,

480
00:29:36,035 --> 00:29:37,427
in 1966.

481
00:29:38,994 --> 00:29:42,171
Twice the club membership voted
to support the action.

482
00:29:43,303 --> 00:29:45,131
Siri said at the time:

483
00:29:45,174 --> 00:29:49,265
- Nuclear power is one
of the chief long term

484
00:29:49,309 --> 00:29:52,051
hopes for conservation.

485
00:29:53,443 --> 00:29:55,706
[Narrator] Ansel Adams,
the club's legendary

486
00:29:55,750 --> 00:29:59,493
photographer and board member,
said nuclear was

487
00:29:59,536 --> 00:30:02,017
the only practical alternative
that we have

488
00:30:02,061 --> 00:30:05,586
to destroying the environment
with oil and coal.

489
00:30:06,630 --> 00:30:09,024
[Adams] They spent a lot of time
in their early years fighting

490
00:30:09,068 --> 00:30:12,245
against dams that would fill up
valleys full of water.

491
00:30:12,288 --> 00:30:15,422
The Sierra Club used
to have a campaign

492
00:30:15,465 --> 00:30:18,773
called Atoms, not Dams! under
David Brower.

493
00:30:19,165 --> 00:30:21,689
And then David Brower
left the Sierra Club

494
00:30:21,732 --> 00:30:25,127
in a huff and founded
Friends of the Earth.

495
00:30:25,519 --> 00:30:27,869
And I'd known
Friends of the Earth was

496
00:30:27,913 --> 00:30:31,438
a big anti-nuclear organization,
but then I found out

497
00:30:31,481 --> 00:30:34,180
where David Brower
got his first check,

498
00:30:34,223 --> 00:30:41,317
$200,000 from Robert Anderson,
who was the CEO of Arco.

499
00:30:41,361 --> 00:30:43,624
He wrote the first check
to David Brower,

500
00:30:43,667 --> 00:30:47,019
who was founding
a environmentalist organization

501
00:30:47,062 --> 00:30:49,717
specifically
to fight nuclear energy.

502
00:30:50,457 --> 00:30:54,243
So why would an oil guy
fund Friends of the Earth?

503
00:30:54,287 --> 00:30:56,028
Makes sense to me.

504
00:30:56,071 --> 00:31:01,163
And it's not conspiracy,
it's simply business.

505
00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:03,862
[Narrator] Soon
Brouwer's faction regained

506
00:31:03,905 --> 00:31:07,387
power in the Sierra Club
and switched its position.

507
00:31:10,172 --> 00:31:14,916
Other groups sprang up as well,
notably Greenpeace in 1971,

508
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,657
in Vancouver, Canada.

509
00:31:21,009 --> 00:31:23,838
Along with issues
like saving the whales,

510
00:31:23,882 --> 00:31:27,189
it fuzed a peace position
on nuclear disarmament

511
00:31:27,233 --> 00:31:30,889
with an environmental position
on opposing nuclear energy.

512
00:31:32,934 --> 00:31:36,546
- We lumped nuclear energy
in with nuclear weapons

513
00:31:36,590 --> 00:31:39,680
as if all things nuclear
were evil.

514
00:31:39,723 --> 00:31:41,943
This was a mistake.

515
00:31:41,987 --> 00:31:43,858
We got a lot
of things right,

516
00:31:43,902 --> 00:31:48,036
stop the bombs, save the whales,
stop toxic waste, etcetera.

517
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:51,213
But we made
that one serious error.

518
00:31:51,474 --> 00:31:54,695
[Narrator] The new battleground
was Ohio, where new reactors

519
00:31:54,738 --> 00:31:57,785
were to be built
instead of coal plants.

520
00:31:57,828 --> 00:32:00,440
The environmental groups
hired lobbyists

521
00:32:00,483 --> 00:32:02,572
and filed lawsuits.

522
00:32:02,616 --> 00:32:05,401
The young attorney,
Ralph Nader, who gained

523
00:32:05,445 --> 00:32:07,795
the public's trust
in the mid '60s

524
00:32:07,838 --> 00:32:10,537
with his criticism of the
safety of American cars,

525
00:32:10,580 --> 00:32:12,931
joined the cause
and now helped turn the public

526
00:32:12,974 --> 00:32:14,671
against nuclear power.

527
00:32:16,543 --> 00:32:19,546
[Ralph Nader] If we stop
nuclear power, or shall we say

528
00:32:19,589 --> 00:32:22,897
when we stop nuclear power,
we will usher in

529
00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:25,508
throughout the United States
and the world,

530
00:32:25,552 --> 00:32:28,990
a new energy alternative.
The sun.

531
00:32:29,034 --> 00:32:32,863
The sun, which Exxon
doesn't like because it's free,

532
00:32:32,907 --> 00:32:35,823
it's abundant,
it can bypass Exxon.

533
00:32:35,866 --> 00:32:39,348
Stopping atomic energy
is saving this country.

534
00:32:39,827 --> 00:32:43,091
[Narrator] He wildly exaggerated
the dangers from radioactivity,

535
00:32:43,135 --> 00:32:46,877
saying a nuclear accident
could wipe out Cleveland

536
00:32:47,095 --> 00:32:51,491
and the survivors
would envy the dead.

537
00:32:51,534 --> 00:32:54,885
Six of the eight Ohio
reactors planned were closed,

538
00:32:54,929 --> 00:33:00,021
including one canceled in 1975
when it was 97% complete.

539
00:33:00,848 --> 00:33:04,156
It was then turned
into a coal plant.

540
00:33:04,199 --> 00:33:07,507
To this day,
two thirds of Ohio electricity

541
00:33:07,550 --> 00:33:09,683
is powered by dirty coal,

542
00:33:10,945 --> 00:33:13,687
which alone kills
about half a million people

543
00:33:13,730 --> 00:33:17,038
worldwide per year
and sickens millions more

544
00:33:17,082 --> 00:33:20,955
with horrible effects
such as cancer, emphysema

545
00:33:20,999 --> 00:33:22,174
and heart disease.

546
00:33:23,653 --> 00:33:26,700
- If you want to accuse us
of having raised the cost

547
00:33:26,743 --> 00:33:30,921
of building new nuclear plants
by demanding more regulation,

548
00:33:30,965 --> 00:33:32,271
I plead guilty.

549
00:33:37,319 --> 00:33:40,061
[Narrator] In 1979,
there were 72 commercial

550
00:33:40,105 --> 00:33:41,584
reactors in the US.

551
00:33:41,845 --> 00:33:43,934
[Anchorman] Early this morning
at a nuclear power plant

552
00:33:43,978 --> 00:33:44,848
in Pennsylvania...

553
00:33:46,328 --> 00:33:47,634
[Narrator] But then came
Three Mile Island.

554
00:33:49,288 --> 00:33:52,987
The reactor overheated
and partially melted down.

555
00:33:53,031 --> 00:33:55,511
But the containment structure
prevented radiation

556
00:33:55,555 --> 00:33:58,384
from affecting
the surroundings.

557
00:33:58,427 --> 00:34:00,821
[Anchorman] There was no
apparent serious contamination

558
00:34:00,864 --> 00:34:01,735
of workers.

559
00:34:03,258 --> 00:34:04,738
[Narrator] But the accident
in 1979 was a gift

560
00:34:04,781 --> 00:34:07,045
to the anti-nuclear movement

561
00:34:07,088 --> 00:34:09,395
that would lead
to a halt in the building

562
00:34:09,438 --> 00:34:12,137
of any more nuclear reactors.

563
00:34:12,179 --> 00:34:14,443
Later that year,
a star studded cast

564
00:34:14,487 --> 00:34:18,012
of musicians put on five nights
of No Nukes concerts

565
00:34:18,056 --> 00:34:19,579
at Madison Square Garden.

566
00:34:21,581 --> 00:34:25,498
[Music]

567
00:34:25,541 --> 00:34:29,067
Followed by a rally
on Battery Park landfill

568
00:34:29,110 --> 00:34:31,243
attended by 200,000 people.

569
00:34:31,634 --> 00:34:35,072
[Music]

570
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,041
Along with Ralph Nader
and other stars,

571
00:34:47,085 --> 00:34:49,304
Jane Fonda spoke.

572
00:34:49,739 --> 00:34:52,393
[Jane Fonda] The money that
is being raised is going

573
00:34:52,438 --> 00:34:55,789
to support all of the local
anti-nuclear groups

574
00:34:55,831 --> 00:34:59,140
around the country and I want
to express my gratitude

575
00:34:59,184 --> 00:35:01,099
and I know you feel
the same way.

576
00:35:04,450 --> 00:35:07,409
[Narrator] She followed up
with a 32 day, 50 city tour

577
00:35:07,453 --> 00:35:11,283
to spread the gospel
and raise a good deal of money

578
00:35:12,675 --> 00:35:15,200
For the environmental groups,
stopping nuclear power

579
00:35:15,243 --> 00:35:20,553
was now glamorous, virtuous
and lucrative all at once.

580
00:35:21,336 --> 00:35:24,600
And they had a friend
in President Jimmy Carter,

581
00:35:24,644 --> 00:35:26,602
who promoted energy
conservation

582
00:35:26,646 --> 00:35:29,910
and installed solar panels
on the White House

583
00:35:30,302 --> 00:35:33,435
while downgrading
nuclear energy below coal

584
00:35:33,479 --> 00:35:35,350
on his list of priorities.

585
00:35:37,396 --> 00:35:40,181
[Anchorman] It does now
seem likely that sometime

586
00:35:40,225 --> 00:35:42,444
in the last couple of days
there's been perhaps

587
00:35:42,488 --> 00:35:44,751
the worst accident
in the short history

588
00:35:44,794 --> 00:35:46,709
of the world's nuclear power
industry.

589
00:35:49,843 --> 00:35:52,672
But the fact that they have had
to reveal it and admit

590
00:35:52,715 --> 00:35:55,240
that there are casualties
suggests they're deeply

591
00:35:55,283 --> 00:35:57,198
worried about the scale of it.

592
00:35:57,242 --> 00:35:59,069
[Narrator] When Chernobyl
in the Ukraine,

593
00:35:59,113 --> 00:36:02,464
part of the Soviet Union,
struck, it deeply shook

594
00:36:02,508 --> 00:36:04,466
the public's faith in nuclear.

595
00:36:05,119 --> 00:36:06,599
It was just what
the environmentalists

596
00:36:06,642 --> 00:36:08,992
had feared and predicted.

597
00:36:10,211 --> 00:36:13,867
But what happened exactly?

598
00:36:13,910 --> 00:36:17,000
There's no question
the reactor was poorly designed

599
00:36:17,044 --> 00:36:18,785
and lacked
a containment structure

600
00:36:19,046 --> 00:36:21,527
to keep radiation from leaking
out into the environment.

601
00:36:23,572 --> 00:36:26,358
The operators carried
out a risky experiment that led

602
00:36:26,401 --> 00:36:27,402
to a meltdown

603
00:36:29,448 --> 00:36:30,753
which was very badly handled

604
00:36:32,494 --> 00:36:34,409
by the bureaucracy of what was
then an empire in decay,

605
00:36:34,757 --> 00:36:38,761
the Soviet Union,
which tried to keep it secret.

606
00:36:38,805 --> 00:36:41,242
This allowed low level
radiation to spread across

607
00:36:41,286 --> 00:36:42,504
northern Europe

608
00:36:44,245 --> 00:36:45,507
before the government
finally admitted the problem.

609
00:36:47,292 --> 00:36:50,556
They sent in first responders
with inadequate protective gear

610
00:36:50,599 --> 00:36:52,775
to get the fire under control.

611
00:36:54,124 --> 00:36:57,215
These men were exposed
to massive doses of radiation.

612
00:37:13,796 --> 00:37:16,451
Vladimir Asmolov
was a scientist in charge

613
00:37:16,495 --> 00:37:17,844
of the investigation.

614
00:37:19,149 --> 00:37:21,674
As he spoke,
I saw he was haunted

615
00:37:21,717 --> 00:37:22,936
by the event.

616
00:37:23,328 --> 00:37:25,068
Yeah,
it was a big responsibility,

617
00:37:25,112 --> 00:37:27,027
but you're not responsible
for the explosion.

618
00:37:27,070 --> 00:37:30,073
You were
in charge of the cleanup.

619
00:37:56,491 --> 00:37:58,014
[Narrator] He thought
the highly successful

620
00:37:58,058 --> 00:38:00,060
HBO series was a fiction,

621
00:38:00,365 --> 00:38:03,281
that the real scientists
were professional

622
00:38:03,585 --> 00:38:06,327
and that there was no conflict
with the government

623
00:38:06,371 --> 00:38:08,895
or the International
Atomic Energy Agency.

624
00:38:30,612 --> 00:38:32,310
[Narrator] According to the
United Nations

625
00:38:32,353 --> 00:38:33,528
and World Health Organization,

626
00:38:33,572 --> 00:38:35,313
about 50 people died

627
00:38:35,356 --> 00:38:38,011
from radiation at the reactor.

628
00:38:38,054 --> 00:38:41,406
And possibly 4000
from cancers over the long term

629
00:38:41,449 --> 00:38:42,972
in areas downwind.

630
00:38:44,670 --> 00:38:46,280
That's a small fraction
of the hundreds of thousands

631
00:38:46,324 --> 00:38:49,588
of deaths every year
from generating electricity

632
00:38:49,631 --> 00:38:50,502
with coal.

633
00:38:51,851 --> 00:38:53,809
Chernobyl,
the world's worst nuclear power

634
00:38:53,853 --> 00:38:55,594
accident in history,

635
00:38:55,637 --> 00:38:58,771
was far less deadly
than many industrial tragedies.

636
00:39:00,250 --> 00:39:03,732
In 1984, a Union Carbide
accident in Bhopal, India,

637
00:39:04,342 --> 00:39:08,520
where a chemical gas leaked,
killed 15 to 20 thousand people

638
00:39:08,563 --> 00:39:10,435
and injured half a million
more.

639
00:39:13,046 --> 00:39:17,355
The 1975 collapse of a
hydroelectric dam in China

640
00:39:17,877 --> 00:39:20,009
killed roughly
200 thousand people.

641
00:39:21,968 --> 00:39:23,665
Outdoor air pollution kills

642
00:39:23,709 --> 00:39:26,451
an estimated four million
people a year.

643
00:39:28,104 --> 00:39:30,324
Industrial accidents
and disease,

644
00:39:30,368 --> 00:39:33,196
roughly two million.

645
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,852
Nuclear's death toll,
all from Chernobyl is at most

646
00:39:36,896 --> 00:39:41,161
in the low thousands,
which is a very tiny fraction

647
00:39:41,204 --> 00:39:42,728
of fossil fuel deaths.

648
00:40:00,223 --> 00:40:03,313
[Narrator] By the early '90s,
activist anti-nuclear groups

649
00:40:03,357 --> 00:40:06,229
were on fire,
calling for no compromise

650
00:40:06,273 --> 00:40:08,144
on the bottom line
that nuclear power

651
00:40:08,188 --> 00:40:10,451
must be eliminated
and that any amount

652
00:40:10,495 --> 00:40:14,716
of radiation, even if below
the normal background levels,

653
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,894
had to be treated
as a risk to human health.

654
00:40:19,460 --> 00:40:21,506
Every new
nuclear related project,

655
00:40:21,549 --> 00:40:25,466
from mining to transport to
construction operation

656
00:40:25,510 --> 00:40:28,513
and decommissioning,
was now facing a series

657
00:40:28,556 --> 00:40:31,733
of legal, political
and economic obstacles

658
00:40:31,777 --> 00:40:34,344
that would stall
any further progress.

659
00:40:38,087 --> 00:40:40,438
The supposed death knell
for the industry finally

660
00:40:40,481 --> 00:40:43,005
happened 25 years after
Chernobyl

661
00:40:43,049 --> 00:40:46,095
in Fukushima, Japan
in 2011.

662
00:40:47,836 --> 00:40:50,796
It was the second largest
accident in nuclear history.

663
00:40:56,715 --> 00:40:58,456
It happened
when the biggest earthquake

664
00:40:58,499 --> 00:40:59,631
Japan ever suffered

665
00:41:04,157 --> 00:41:08,857
created a tsunami
one hundred feet tall.

666
00:41:13,383 --> 00:41:15,603
The earthquake
and the tsunami killed about

667
00:41:15,647 --> 00:41:18,867
18,000 people,
but it had nothing to do

668
00:41:18,911 --> 00:41:20,086
with nuclear power.

669
00:41:24,003 --> 00:41:26,484
All the nuclear plants
in the tsunami's path,

670
00:41:26,527 --> 00:41:29,312
with one exception,
avoided serious damage.

671
00:41:31,271 --> 00:41:33,882
But the plant at Fukushima,
like Chernobyl's,

672
00:41:33,926 --> 00:41:36,058
was poorly designed.

673
00:41:36,102 --> 00:41:39,584
Not the reactor
but the site design.

674
00:41:39,845 --> 00:41:43,370
It had too low a seawall,
less than twenty feet

675
00:41:43,936 --> 00:41:47,069
and all back up generators
were located on low ground

676
00:41:47,113 --> 00:41:49,202
where they flooded.

677
00:41:49,245 --> 00:41:53,249
The plant lost electricity.
The core melted down.

678
00:41:53,293 --> 00:41:57,079
Hydrogen gas built up
and exploded inside

679
00:41:57,123 --> 00:42:01,040
the building and radiation
was released into the air.

680
00:42:01,997 --> 00:42:05,087
But the authorities,
unlike at Chernobyl,

681
00:42:05,131 --> 00:42:07,263
did not send in unprotected
people to fight

682
00:42:07,307 --> 00:42:08,917
the highly radioactive fire,

683
00:42:10,397 --> 00:42:12,486
and the public never received
more than low level

684
00:42:12,530 --> 00:42:14,706
harmless radiation.

685
00:42:15,184 --> 00:42:17,230
Fukushima might be
the only disaster

686
00:42:17,273 --> 00:42:19,449
in history widely called
a nuclear disaster

687
00:42:19,493 --> 00:42:23,236
by almost everyone
with a death toll of zero

688
00:42:23,279 --> 00:42:24,411
from nuclear.

689
00:42:26,456 --> 00:42:28,894
More than six hundred died
from the badly managed

690
00:42:28,937 --> 00:42:31,374
forced evacuation

691
00:42:31,418 --> 00:42:33,812
such as when patients
were abruptly yanked

692
00:42:33,855 --> 00:42:36,379
out of hospitals.

693
00:42:36,423 --> 00:42:39,861
But the actual disaster
was the tsunami

694
00:42:39,905 --> 00:42:42,124
with its 18,000 victims.

695
00:42:43,996 --> 00:42:45,040
[Speaking Japanese]

696
00:42:47,042 --> 00:42:49,697
[Narrator] Nonetheless,
Japan reacted in panic,

697
00:42:49,741 --> 00:42:52,134
closing down all
its nuclear plants,

698
00:42:52,178 --> 00:42:54,876
whether affected
by the earthquake or not

699
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:57,575
and the country
remained frozen with doubt.

700
00:42:59,881 --> 00:43:03,537
In 2021, ten years
after the accident,

701
00:43:03,885 --> 00:43:08,586
only ten of Japan's 33
operable reactors were in use.

702
00:43:10,022 --> 00:43:12,590
Imported fossil fuels
replaced the rest.

703
00:43:17,464 --> 00:43:20,641
The negativity of world opinion
resulting from both Chernobyl

704
00:43:20,685 --> 00:43:24,340
and Fukushima
now reached a critical mass.

705
00:43:27,735 --> 00:43:29,476
Germany took the most
severe course

706
00:43:29,519 --> 00:43:31,739
and under significant
political pressure

707
00:43:31,783 --> 00:43:33,480
from the Green Party

708
00:43:35,221 --> 00:43:38,964
began phasing out all 17
of its nuclear reactors.

709
00:43:41,444 --> 00:43:44,447
While continuing
to rely on coal plants.

710
00:43:49,539 --> 00:43:52,107
Even in Sweden,
winds were blowing

711
00:43:52,151 --> 00:43:53,892
against nuclear.

712
00:43:53,935 --> 00:43:56,329
The new government
that included the Green Party

713
00:43:56,372 --> 00:43:58,636
dramatically raised
anti-nuclear taxes,

714
00:43:59,114 --> 00:44:00,855
which led
to the premature retirement

715
00:44:00,899 --> 00:44:02,161
of four reactors.

716
00:44:04,598 --> 00:44:07,470
South Korea had a well trained
generation of engineers

717
00:44:07,514 --> 00:44:10,299
and scientists
and a standardized design

718
00:44:11,779 --> 00:44:14,869
and had been generating
electricity at a very low price

719
00:44:15,522 --> 00:44:17,742
when it decided to pull back.

720
00:44:17,785 --> 00:44:22,181
The heavily publicized
2016 feature, Pandora,

721
00:44:22,703 --> 00:44:24,357
which pictured
an accident far worse

722
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,272
than the actual Fukushima,

723
00:44:31,669 --> 00:44:35,281
grabbed and swayed
public opinion against nuclear

724
00:44:35,673 --> 00:44:38,763
and the government stopped
construction on new plants.

725
00:44:41,548 --> 00:44:43,550
The trend
of politicians around most

726
00:44:43,593 --> 00:44:45,552
developed countries
of shutting down

727
00:44:45,595 --> 00:44:48,903
well working nuclear reactors
met little political

728
00:44:48,947 --> 00:44:50,296
opposition.

729
00:44:51,950 --> 00:44:54,692
And it became far easier
to approve a new methane gas

730
00:44:54,735 --> 00:44:56,650
power plant

731
00:44:56,694 --> 00:44:58,086
or a new coal plant.

732
00:45:00,219 --> 00:45:02,917
And without forward movement,
the US nuclear industry

733
00:45:02,961 --> 00:45:05,659
was slowly declining as well.

734
00:45:05,703 --> 00:45:09,358
With existing plants
being shut down early,

735
00:45:09,402 --> 00:45:13,058
including Indian Point,
which supplied 25%

736
00:45:13,101 --> 00:45:16,583
of New York City's electricity
for many years.

737
00:45:16,626 --> 00:45:19,934
And the planned closing
of Diablo Canyon,

738
00:45:19,978 --> 00:45:23,285
California's last remaining
nuclear power plant.

739
00:45:23,329 --> 00:45:26,506
Although in 2022,
this was reversed

740
00:45:26,549 --> 00:45:28,247
after a fierce battle.

741
00:45:28,290 --> 00:45:29,770
- I now believe
that nuclear is vital

742
00:45:29,814 --> 00:45:31,641
to our future on this planet,

743
00:45:31,685 --> 00:45:33,382
and I've helped start a group
called Mothers for Nuclear

744
00:45:33,426 --> 00:45:34,688
to help explain why.

745
00:45:36,255 --> 00:45:37,212
[Narrator] These reactors
have operated safely

746
00:45:37,256 --> 00:45:39,258
and reliably for decades,

747
00:45:40,128 --> 00:45:43,436
producing about 9%
of California's electricity

748
00:45:43,479 --> 00:45:44,916
in recent years.

749
00:45:50,530 --> 00:45:53,141
There are still a number
of nuclear reactors working

750
00:45:53,185 --> 00:45:54,708
in the United States today.

751
00:45:56,014 --> 00:45:59,234
These legacy reactors,
more than 30 or 40 years later,

752
00:45:59,278 --> 00:46:01,976
still supply 20%
of US electricity.

753
00:46:04,500 --> 00:46:07,547
Working 24/7
without oil spills,

754
00:46:07,590 --> 00:46:09,810
gas leaks or coal pollution.

755
00:46:11,986 --> 00:46:13,901
They have become
so uneventful,

756
00:46:13,945 --> 00:46:16,034
it's easy to forget
they even exist.

757
00:46:17,731 --> 00:46:20,647
Many people to this day
still think that these plants

758
00:46:20,690 --> 00:46:24,825
are capable of blowing up
like a nuclear bomb.

759
00:46:24,869 --> 00:46:26,827
But that's physically
impossible because

760
00:46:26,871 --> 00:46:29,264
their uranium
is not sufficiently enriched

761
00:46:29,656 --> 00:46:32,659
in any way close
to the necessary amount.

762
00:46:32,702 --> 00:46:35,880
The idea that low levels
of radiation are dangerous

763
00:46:35,923 --> 00:46:39,187
right down to near zero
is a contamination phobia.

764
00:46:41,711 --> 00:46:42,974
Which when you think
it through,

765
00:46:43,017 --> 00:46:46,238
is kind of ridiculous.

766
00:46:46,281 --> 00:46:48,675
We've evolved,
after all, on a planet filled

767
00:46:48,718 --> 00:46:53,332
with uranium and bombarded by
both sunlight and cosmic rays.

768
00:46:54,681 --> 00:46:57,989
Our bodies are built by nature
and evolution to handle

769
00:46:58,032 --> 00:46:59,904
small amounts of radiation.

770
00:47:01,906 --> 00:47:04,169
Medical procedures
such as dentistry

771
00:47:04,212 --> 00:47:06,824
account for about one third
of the radiation

772
00:47:06,867 --> 00:47:08,826
from which humans are exposed.

773
00:47:10,697 --> 00:47:13,700
The other two thirds being
natural background radiation.

774
00:47:15,223 --> 00:47:17,356
This low level background
radiation doubles

775
00:47:17,399 --> 00:47:19,924
if you live at altitude
in Denver, Colorado.

776
00:47:21,316 --> 00:47:24,842
Or triples if you work
on a long distance airline crew

777
00:47:25,494 --> 00:47:29,150
or if you smoke
a pack of cigarettes each day.

778
00:47:29,194 --> 00:47:31,631
The FDA sets
a radiation dose limit

779
00:47:31,674 --> 00:47:33,285
for diagnostic procedures.

780
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:37,942
Radioactive iodine treatment
of thyroid cancer

781
00:47:37,985 --> 00:47:41,380
delivers one hundred thousand
millisieverts to the thyroid

782
00:47:42,337 --> 00:47:46,602
and 200 millisieverts
as a whole body dose.

783
00:47:46,646 --> 00:47:50,476
Granite contains some uranium
and you get extra radiation

784
00:47:50,519 --> 00:47:53,087
if you live near a mountain
or work in a building

785
00:47:53,131 --> 00:47:55,176
like the US Capitol.

786
00:47:55,220 --> 00:47:58,005
And it's far higher
in Ramsar, Iran

787
00:47:58,049 --> 00:47:59,746
with its radium hot springs

788
00:48:00,268 --> 00:48:03,010
or the black sand beaches
of Brazil

789
00:48:03,054 --> 00:48:05,360
where people bury themselves
in the sand to get

790
00:48:05,404 --> 00:48:07,754
what they consider a healthy
dose.

791
00:48:10,496 --> 00:48:13,499
High levels of radiation
are dangerous for sure.

792
00:48:14,979 --> 00:48:18,330
People died and got very sick
from exposure in Hiroshima

793
00:48:18,373 --> 00:48:21,333
and Nagasaki,
and at Chernobyl.

794
00:48:21,376 --> 00:48:24,205
But there is no basis
for the public perception

795
00:48:24,249 --> 00:48:26,381
that the offspring
from these survivors

796
00:48:26,425 --> 00:48:28,906
had an increased
rate of genetic defects.

797
00:48:29,428 --> 00:48:31,909
Massive and careful long
term studies do not

798
00:48:31,952 --> 00:48:35,086
support these conceptions.

799
00:48:35,129 --> 00:48:38,132
Fears of passing down
horrible mutations

800
00:48:38,176 --> 00:48:40,526
like the three eyed fish
in The Simpsons

801
00:48:40,569 --> 00:48:42,049
are without foundation.

802
00:48:47,315 --> 00:48:51,711
[Music]

803
00:49:01,199 --> 00:49:03,592
[Narrator] So what kind
of audience do you get

804
00:49:03,636 --> 00:49:05,333
and what kind of feedback?

805
00:49:05,377 --> 00:49:09,076
- On Tik Tok it's mostly 18
to 25 year old females,

806
00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:12,427
which is unheard of
for science communicators.

807
00:49:12,471 --> 00:49:14,603
A single one of my videos
can get something like

808
00:49:14,647 --> 00:49:18,346
500,000 views,
and that's 500,000 people

809
00:49:18,390 --> 00:49:20,696
that didn't know anything
about nuclear power,

810
00:49:20,740 --> 00:49:23,656
but now do and might have
changed their minds.

811
00:49:23,699 --> 00:49:26,267
- What are some
of the things young girls say?

812
00:49:26,311 --> 00:49:29,662
- Some things like,
I used to think that millions

813
00:49:29,705 --> 00:49:32,795
of people died
when Chernobyl happened,

814
00:49:32,839 --> 00:49:36,103
so there are a lot of people
changing their minds around that

815
00:49:36,147 --> 00:49:38,801
and nuclear waste as well.

816
00:49:39,454 --> 00:49:41,935
The nuclear industry
is the only energy generating

817
00:49:41,979 --> 00:49:44,459
industry that's actually
responsible for its waste

818
00:49:44,807 --> 00:49:46,374
because it is radioactive,

819
00:49:46,418 --> 00:49:48,724
and so as soon as it comes
out of the plant,

820
00:49:48,768 --> 00:49:51,423
it's handled by the industry.

821
00:49:51,466 --> 00:49:53,816
- We have
a highly rigorous process

822
00:49:53,860 --> 00:49:58,082
to manage the waste
coming from a nuclear plant,

823
00:49:58,125 --> 00:50:01,650
and we can tell you exactly
where every bit of waste

824
00:50:01,694 --> 00:50:03,870
is from every nuclear plant
that is operated.

825
00:50:03,913 --> 00:50:09,789
It's contained, it's located
on sites that are protected.

826
00:50:09,832 --> 00:50:12,531
We can't say the same
for many other energy resources

827
00:50:12,574 --> 00:50:17,362
where waste goes up in the air
or we have piles of tailings

828
00:50:17,405 --> 00:50:20,234
from those materials.

829
00:50:20,278 --> 00:50:23,063
And I hesitate to call it waste
a lot of times

830
00:50:23,107 --> 00:50:25,196
because
it's really just used fuel.

831
00:50:25,239 --> 00:50:29,069
- Not a single person anywhere
in the world

832
00:50:29,113 --> 00:50:33,813
has ever been harmed
by used nuclear fuel.

833
00:50:33,856 --> 00:50:36,163
[Narrator] What many don't know
is that if we brought together

834
00:50:36,207 --> 00:50:39,123
all of America's spent fuel
from sixty years

835
00:50:39,166 --> 00:50:42,430
of powering 20%
of our electricity,

836
00:50:42,474 --> 00:50:44,824
it would be the size
of a Walmart.

837
00:50:45,172 --> 00:50:47,783
Sixty years,
20% of our electricity

838
00:50:48,219 --> 00:50:50,177
would be the size of a Walmart.

839
00:50:51,309 --> 00:50:53,398
There is nothing
uniquely dangerous

840
00:50:53,441 --> 00:50:55,052
about radioactive materials.

841
00:50:55,443 --> 00:50:58,533
They're just one
of many industrial materials

842
00:50:58,577 --> 00:51:01,928
that can be toxic
and must be handled carefully.

843
00:51:04,148 --> 00:51:08,891
The US solution for now
is dry cask cylinders 18ft high

844
00:51:09,153 --> 00:51:12,982
made of concrete and steel
that keep radiation contained

845
00:51:13,026 --> 00:51:16,421
and are not damaged
by things like earthquakes.

846
00:51:16,464 --> 00:51:20,729
Concrete absorbs radiation.

847
00:51:20,773 --> 00:51:23,732
The government hopes
to use the spent fuel someday

848
00:51:23,776 --> 00:51:26,344
to power new reactor types.

849
00:51:26,779 --> 00:51:28,650
Or it can,
like their military

850
00:51:28,694 --> 00:51:30,348
has been doing for years,

851
00:51:30,391 --> 00:51:33,133
safely bury
the waste underground

852
00:51:33,394 --> 00:51:36,963
because radioactive materials
actually lose potency

853
00:51:37,006 --> 00:51:38,225
over time.

854
00:51:41,620 --> 00:51:44,797
Finland is already building
a permanent storage site

855
00:51:44,840 --> 00:51:49,280
for spent fuel
in bedrock deep underground,

856
00:51:49,323 --> 00:51:54,198
sealed in copper canisters
and backfilled with clay.

857
00:51:54,241 --> 00:51:57,984
Sweden plans
to use the same design.

858
00:51:58,376 --> 00:52:01,596
[Boemeke] Two billion years ago
in Gabon, in Africa,

859
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:03,859
there were natural nuclear
reactors,

860
00:52:03,903 --> 00:52:07,167
meaning in these uranium mines
in Africa,

861
00:52:07,211 --> 00:52:10,562
water would pull around
the uranium

862
00:52:10,997 --> 00:52:13,086
and that would
create a chain reaction.

863
00:52:13,304 --> 00:52:16,089
And so these reactors
operated for hundreds

864
00:52:16,133 --> 00:52:19,005
of thousands of years,
and they left behind

865
00:52:19,048 --> 00:52:22,791
what we call nuclear waste
fission products.

866
00:52:22,835 --> 00:52:26,317
And just by analyzing
where these fission products are

867
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:30,799
in the area, scientists
actually know that nuclear waste

868
00:52:30,843 --> 00:52:33,802
doesn't move very far,
even in a scale of hundreds

869
00:52:33,846 --> 00:52:35,326
of thousands of years,
or in this case,

870
00:52:35,369 --> 00:52:36,544
two billion years.

871
00:52:36,588 --> 00:52:38,242
Hey guys, so a lot of you
have been asking

872
00:52:38,285 --> 00:52:40,505
about my makeup routine.
The most important thing

873
00:52:40,548 --> 00:52:41,897
is to make sure you wash
your face really well,

874
00:52:41,941 --> 00:52:43,116
because we want those pores
as clean as we want

875
00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:44,030
our electricity.

876
00:52:45,466 --> 00:52:46,641
And the best way to get that
is to use this cleanser

877
00:52:46,685 --> 00:52:47,947
called Stop Shutting Down
Nuclear Plants,

878
00:52:47,990 --> 00:52:48,904
for Christ's Sake.

879
00:52:50,515 --> 00:52:51,820
It's carbon free, emission free,
pollution free electricity.

880
00:52:51,864 --> 00:52:53,387
The answer
to solving climate change

881
00:52:53,431 --> 00:52:54,910
is very straightforward.

882
00:52:54,954 --> 00:52:56,825
We have the solutions.

883
00:52:56,869 --> 00:52:58,218
We just have
to implement them.

884
00:52:58,262 --> 00:52:59,698
You know,
the first question is,

885
00:52:59,959 --> 00:53:02,353
But isn't it too dangerous?
What about the waste?

886
00:53:02,744 --> 00:53:06,226
Nuclear waste is nothing
compared to climate change.

887
00:53:12,754 --> 00:53:16,062
[Narrator] In 2006,
the film An Inconvenient Truth,

888
00:53:16,105 --> 00:53:18,847
produced by former
Vice President Al Gore,

889
00:53:18,891 --> 00:53:21,372
dramatized vividly the dangers
of carbon emissions

890
00:53:21,415 --> 00:53:23,025
and overheating the planet.

891
00:53:23,765 --> 00:53:26,942
Look how far above
the natural cycle this is,

892
00:53:26,986 --> 00:53:28,248
and we've done that.

893
00:53:29,902 --> 00:53:32,992
[Jerry Seinfeld] And the Oscar
goes to An Inconvenient Truth.

894
00:53:33,035 --> 00:53:34,646
[Narrator] It opened
with a worldwide impact

895
00:53:34,689 --> 00:53:37,170
and won a Nobel Prize
and an Oscar.

896
00:53:38,824 --> 00:53:41,479
In the years that followed,
the issue of climate change

897
00:53:41,522 --> 00:53:44,612
became even more polarized,
with conservatives holding

898
00:53:44,656 --> 00:53:46,962
on to their position
that this was not

899
00:53:47,006 --> 00:53:50,270
an extraordinary event
created by mankind.

900
00:53:50,314 --> 00:53:52,316
- Climate change is not science.

901
00:53:52,359 --> 00:53:54,579
It's religion.

902
00:53:54,622 --> 00:53:57,016
[Narrator] In 2017,
President Trump,

903
00:53:57,059 --> 00:53:59,845
despising tree huggers
and liberals,

904
00:53:59,888 --> 00:54:02,935
pulled the United States
out of the Paris Climate Accord

905
00:54:02,978 --> 00:54:05,242
and called climate change
a hoax.

906
00:54:08,375 --> 00:54:12,074
At the other extreme,
environmentalists and activists

907
00:54:12,118 --> 00:54:14,294
were folding the issue
of climate change

908
00:54:14,338 --> 00:54:19,778
into a wider agenda of ending
capitalism and globalization,

909
00:54:19,821 --> 00:54:22,737
bringing to the forefront
inequality.

910
00:54:22,781 --> 00:54:24,348
[Thunberg] We are
in the beginning

911
00:54:24,391 --> 00:54:27,786
of a mass extinction
and all you can talk about

912
00:54:27,829 --> 00:54:32,225
is money and fairytales
of eternal economic growth.

913
00:54:32,530 --> 00:54:33,879
How dare you?

914
00:54:38,797 --> 00:54:41,147
[Narrator] But most people
were in the middle,

915
00:54:41,190 --> 00:54:44,150
confused by the claims
but scared by the changes

916
00:54:44,193 --> 00:54:47,545
they were seeing so vividly
in the weather, oceans

917
00:54:47,588 --> 00:54:49,329
and animal kingdom.

918
00:54:49,982 --> 00:54:53,638
People wanted not partizan
or ideological solutions,

919
00:54:53,681 --> 00:54:55,379
but practical ones.

920
00:54:58,382 --> 00:55:00,297
One solution
that gained momentum

921
00:55:00,340 --> 00:55:02,037
during this time
was clean energy

922
00:55:02,081 --> 00:55:03,952
in the form of renewables.

923
00:55:04,518 --> 00:55:06,607
Global investment in renewables
reached close

924
00:55:06,651 --> 00:55:08,696
to three trillion dollars.

925
00:55:10,002 --> 00:55:15,312
Costs dropped by 80% for solar
and 50% for wind.

926
00:55:15,747 --> 00:55:17,836
A giant step.

927
00:55:17,879 --> 00:55:22,188
Together wind and solar grew
from about 2% to 10%

928
00:55:22,231 --> 00:55:24,756
of world electricity
generation.

929
00:55:26,323 --> 00:55:29,282
Hydroelectric power,
the biggest of the renewables,

930
00:55:29,326 --> 00:55:32,285
expanded across Southeast Asia
and elsewhere.

931
00:55:33,939 --> 00:55:36,898
But despite the massive effort
and the optimism,

932
00:55:36,942 --> 00:55:41,381
the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, the IPCC,

933
00:55:41,425 --> 00:55:45,733
stated in 2018 and again
more strongly in 2021

934
00:55:45,777 --> 00:55:50,347
that if we didn't cut
carbon emissions by nearly 100%

935
00:55:50,390 --> 00:55:52,392
in less than 30 years,

936
00:55:52,436 --> 00:55:55,264
by 2050,
the world would suffer

937
00:55:55,308 --> 00:55:59,007
serious damage
to ecosystems and economies.

938
00:55:59,399 --> 00:56:01,270
There'd be mega changes
like the melting

939
00:56:01,314 --> 00:56:05,362
of polar ice sheets,
the sea level rise.

940
00:56:05,971 --> 00:56:09,496
Coastal cities
might become uninhabitable.

941
00:56:10,802 --> 00:56:13,239
There'd be an increase
in frequency and size

942
00:56:13,282 --> 00:56:19,027
of extreme weather events,
forest fires, droughts,

943
00:56:19,071 --> 00:56:22,857
terrible heat waves,
and unusually strong

944
00:56:22,901 --> 00:56:23,902
hurricanes.

945
00:56:36,828 --> 00:56:40,353
Ominously,
the predictions from the 1980s

946
00:56:40,397 --> 00:56:43,835
are proving to be accurate
because we're still depending

947
00:56:43,878 --> 00:56:48,187
on fossil fuels and we're
in the same place we were

948
00:56:48,230 --> 00:56:49,971
at the turn of the century.

949
00:56:51,103 --> 00:56:53,148
How can that be?

950
00:56:53,192 --> 00:56:56,587
We have put such effort
and money into renewables,

951
00:56:56,630 --> 00:56:59,807
yet we burn more fossil fuels
than ever.

952
00:56:59,851 --> 00:57:01,853
To understand how
this happened,

953
00:57:01,896 --> 00:57:04,290
Germany is a good case
in point.

954
00:57:06,553 --> 00:57:09,034
No nation has done more
to promote green power

955
00:57:09,077 --> 00:57:12,124
in the last 20 years
and received a great deal

956
00:57:12,167 --> 00:57:14,561
of favorable publicity.

957
00:57:14,909 --> 00:57:17,042
Germany made
the fateful decision

958
00:57:17,085 --> 00:57:20,437
to phase out nuclear power
by 2022.

959
00:57:20,828 --> 00:57:21,699
[Speaking German]

960
00:57:23,309 --> 00:57:24,832
[Translator] We won't support
even a one second extension

961
00:57:24,876 --> 00:57:27,226
for an energy form
that we can't fully control.

962
00:57:34,451 --> 00:57:36,496
[Narrator] Replacing it with
roughly the same amount

963
00:57:36,540 --> 00:57:39,934
of electricity using
renewable power instead.

964
00:57:41,414 --> 00:57:43,111
How did that work out?

965
00:57:46,506 --> 00:57:50,902
Germany's largest solar plant
with 465 thousand panels,

966
00:57:50,945 --> 00:57:55,254
was built on 500 acres.

967
00:57:55,297 --> 00:57:57,648
The nuclear plant,
which was recently closed,

968
00:57:57,691 --> 00:58:01,434
was built on about 100 acres.

969
00:58:01,478 --> 00:58:04,524
It operated
around the clock, all seasons,

970
00:58:04,568 --> 00:58:07,788
all weather, on average,
producing at near 90%

971
00:58:07,832 --> 00:58:09,094
of its peak.

972
00:58:10,617 --> 00:58:12,663
The average for the solar plant
has been about 11%

973
00:58:12,706 --> 00:58:16,231
of its peak because most
of the time it's either night,

974
00:58:16,275 --> 00:58:17,972
winter or cloudy.

975
00:58:19,626 --> 00:58:22,368
So the reality is
that a nuclear plant produces

976
00:58:22,411 --> 00:58:25,327
almost 100 times
the electricity per year

977
00:58:25,371 --> 00:58:27,634
as a solar plant
and can do so

978
00:58:27,678 --> 00:58:29,506
on one fifth the land.

979
00:58:30,289 --> 00:58:32,596
Germany also built
about thirty thousand

980
00:58:32,639 --> 00:58:34,815
wind turbines,
some of the newer ones

981
00:58:34,859 --> 00:58:37,035
almost as tall
as the Eiffel Tower.

982
00:58:38,558 --> 00:58:40,952
Wind has worked for Germany,
producing twice

983
00:58:40,995 --> 00:58:43,650
as much electricity as solar.

984
00:58:43,694 --> 00:58:45,783
But it still averages less
than a quarter

985
00:58:45,826 --> 00:58:47,698
of its peak capacity.

986
00:58:49,569 --> 00:58:51,571
To equal the same amount
of nuclear power

987
00:58:51,615 --> 00:58:54,966
would require four thousand
giant turbines spread

988
00:58:55,009 --> 00:58:56,837
over many square kilometers

989
00:58:57,446 --> 00:58:59,100
and would still depend
on the weather.

990
00:59:00,406 --> 00:59:03,017
One way to make wind
and solar more efficient

991
00:59:03,061 --> 00:59:06,543
when weather is a factor is
to store some of their power

992
00:59:06,586 --> 00:59:08,196
in batteries.

993
00:59:08,457 --> 00:59:10,938
Their prices are dropping
quickly and there's

994
00:59:10,982 --> 00:59:13,158
an intense race going on.

995
00:59:13,854 --> 00:59:16,596
China at this point is far
in a lead, producing more

996
00:59:16,640 --> 00:59:18,816
than 70% of all battery cells.

997
00:59:22,297 --> 00:59:26,519
Still, despite the promise of
bigger and better batteries,

998
00:59:26,563 --> 00:59:28,782
Bill Gates, who's invested
one billion dollars

999
00:59:28,826 --> 00:59:32,351
in renewables, has said
there's no battery technology

1000
00:59:32,394 --> 00:59:35,006
that's even close
to allowing us to take all

1001
00:59:35,049 --> 00:59:37,225
of our energy from renewables.

1002
00:59:37,617 --> 00:59:40,402
[Bill Gates] It'll be a lot
of renewables.

1003
00:59:40,664 --> 00:59:46,495
And either a storage miracle
or are quite a bit of nuclear.

1004
00:59:46,539 --> 00:59:48,323
[Narrator] The problem is scale.

1005
00:59:48,367 --> 00:59:51,370
What works for a phone
or a car doesn't work

1006
00:59:51,413 --> 00:59:53,154
for a city or a continent.

1007
00:59:56,941 --> 00:59:59,944
Germany doesn't have
the natural hydroelectric

1008
00:59:59,987 --> 01:00:02,250
potential like Norway
or New Zealand,

1009
01:00:02,729 --> 01:00:05,253
and most of the great hydro
sites in the world

1010
01:00:05,297 --> 01:00:06,777
are already dammed,

1011
01:00:06,820 --> 01:00:09,562
leaving little upside
in development.

1012
01:00:12,130 --> 01:00:16,003
And geothermal energy,
such as it exists in Iceland

1013
01:00:16,047 --> 01:00:19,485
is unproven outside
of limited volcanic locations.

1014
01:00:21,835 --> 01:00:23,358
Which leaves biomass

1015
01:00:23,402 --> 01:00:27,275
the burning
of organic material.

1016
01:00:27,319 --> 01:00:30,017
Germany cuts down and burns
forests in Europe

1017
01:00:30,061 --> 01:00:32,629
and North America
with a similar result

1018
01:00:32,672 --> 01:00:34,456
as fossil fuel pollution.

1019
01:00:37,198 --> 01:00:39,461
And yet it's called
renewable energy,

1020
01:00:39,505 --> 01:00:40,593
because in theory,

1021
01:00:42,160 --> 01:00:44,075
new trees grow back
when you cut the old ones down.

1022
01:00:44,336 --> 01:00:47,208
But it takes decades
for the new trees to grow back.

1023
01:00:49,080 --> 01:00:51,473
The mathematics
simply do not add up.

1024
01:00:55,564 --> 01:00:58,219
All of these renewables
combined are not enough

1025
01:00:58,263 --> 01:01:01,005
to provide Germany's demand
for energy,

1026
01:01:01,658 --> 01:01:03,747
so it still has to burn coal.

1027
01:01:05,009 --> 01:01:08,577
A more economical solution
is natural gas,

1028
01:01:08,839 --> 01:01:11,537
also known as methane gas.

1029
01:01:11,580 --> 01:01:14,018
Which is widely available,
especially since

1030
01:01:14,061 --> 01:01:15,759
the fracking revolution.

1031
01:01:16,977 --> 01:01:18,544
Is this a solution?

1032
01:01:19,588 --> 01:01:23,680
- Methane gas is less polluting
than coal, that's true.

1033
01:01:23,723 --> 01:01:24,942
Half the CO2.

1034
01:01:24,985 --> 01:01:26,726
But that's still putting CO2 in

1035
01:01:26,770 --> 01:01:29,424
and every time
you light a methane fire,

1036
01:01:29,468 --> 01:01:31,731
you're putting CO2
into the atmosphere,

1037
01:01:31,775 --> 01:01:34,865
and then the dirty secret
of it is it leaks out

1038
01:01:34,908 --> 01:01:37,171
all along the line.

1039
01:01:37,215 --> 01:01:39,173
[Narrator] Although
it's invisible to the eye,

1040
01:01:39,217 --> 01:01:42,437
methane can be seen
by infrared cameras,

1041
01:01:42,481 --> 01:01:45,310
which reveal that it severely
pollutes the atmosphere

1042
01:01:45,353 --> 01:01:48,095
when it leaks
and escapes unburned.

1043
01:01:48,792 --> 01:01:51,577
- If you take a methane gas
detector and go around,

1044
01:01:51,620 --> 01:01:54,623
you'll find that
there's gas pipelines everywhere

1045
01:01:54,667 --> 01:01:56,930
under our streets,
your gas stove,

1046
01:01:56,974 --> 01:01:58,540
you turn it on goes,
click, click, click

1047
01:01:58,584 --> 01:02:01,239
and then it lights.
That's unburned methane.

1048
01:02:01,587 --> 01:02:03,589
And when that stuff gets
into the atmosphere,

1049
01:02:03,632 --> 01:02:08,507
it's 80 times worse
for global warming than CO2.

1050
01:02:08,942 --> 01:02:10,944
And it doesn't last
as long as CO2

1051
01:02:10,988 --> 01:02:13,468
but in the immediate,
the next few decades,

1052
01:02:13,512 --> 01:02:14,992
it's a major problem.

1053
01:02:15,035 --> 01:02:16,645
Methane levels
are going way up

1054
01:02:16,689 --> 01:02:19,213
in the atmosphere
and it's definitely contributing

1055
01:02:19,257 --> 01:02:21,172
a lot to climate change.

1056
01:02:22,477 --> 01:02:24,784
[Narrator] It's no wonder
that publicly oil

1057
01:02:24,828 --> 01:02:27,004
and gas companies
fully support renewables

1058
01:02:27,047 --> 01:02:28,614
and lobby for subsidies.

1059
01:02:28,875 --> 01:02:31,965
They tell us natural gas
is the perfect partner

1060
01:02:32,009 --> 01:02:35,795
for renewables,
but it's a false solution.

1061
01:02:35,839 --> 01:02:38,145
In the last 30 years,
renewables have been going

1062
01:02:38,189 --> 01:02:41,975
in on top of fossil fuels,
not replacing them.

1063
01:02:42,846 --> 01:02:44,935
And that's why
the overall proportion

1064
01:02:44,978 --> 01:02:48,416
of clean, renewable energy
hasn't changed.

1065
01:02:48,982 --> 01:02:51,332
Sadly, more than 80%
of energy use

1066
01:02:51,376 --> 01:02:53,291
is still fossil fuel.

1067
01:02:55,032 --> 01:02:58,862
Altogether Germany has spent
over $200 billion on renewables

1068
01:02:58,905 --> 01:03:00,298
since 2013.

1069
01:03:00,951 --> 01:03:03,649
But within Europe,
Germany has the highest

1070
01:03:03,692 --> 01:03:06,434
electricity prices
and their carbon emissions

1071
01:03:06,478 --> 01:03:07,871
are among the highest.

1072
01:03:09,742 --> 01:03:11,613
This energy indecision
is not just

1073
01:03:11,657 --> 01:03:14,703
a European phenomenon,
but is something

1074
01:03:14,747 --> 01:03:17,794
that is affecting many
countries on a global scale.

1075
01:03:19,839 --> 01:03:22,450
India with well
over a billion people,

1076
01:03:22,494 --> 01:03:25,236
represents
another crucial participant

1077
01:03:25,279 --> 01:03:26,803
in our world community.

1078
01:03:28,239 --> 01:03:30,676
Demand for air conditioning
alone in India

1079
01:03:30,719 --> 01:03:33,722
and other hot countries is
projected to triple

1080
01:03:33,766 --> 01:03:37,161
by 2050 worldwide.

1081
01:03:37,204 --> 01:03:40,425
India has made tremendous gains
in solar power

1082
01:03:40,468 --> 01:03:44,821
and is planning to build
at large scale very cheaply.

1083
01:03:44,864 --> 01:03:47,475
It is a new technology trained
workforce.

1084
01:03:48,302 --> 01:03:51,349
Its solar power has become
cheaper than coal,

1085
01:03:51,392 --> 01:03:54,091
and wind
has become cost competitive.

1086
01:03:55,309 --> 01:03:59,009
Both energies
are still weather dependent.

1087
01:03:59,052 --> 01:04:00,880
India has ventured
into nuclear power

1088
01:04:00,924 --> 01:04:03,100
with 23 reactors on line

1089
01:04:04,014 --> 01:04:07,408
seven under construction
and more planned.

1090
01:04:07,452 --> 01:04:10,411
And Indian consumers sick
of the deadly pollution

1091
01:04:10,455 --> 01:04:13,153
in their cities
may well push the government

1092
01:04:13,197 --> 01:04:17,984
to accelerate these kinds
of clean energy initiatives.

1093
01:04:18,506 --> 01:04:21,640
But India is a democracy,
and if you don't give people

1094
01:04:21,683 --> 01:04:24,861
what they want,
which is cheap electricity,

1095
01:04:24,904 --> 01:04:27,385
you'll be voted out of office.

1096
01:04:27,428 --> 01:04:28,777
So the Indian government

1097
01:04:29,039 --> 01:04:30,954
says that
for the foreseeable future,

1098
01:04:30,997 --> 01:04:34,348
75% of their electricity
will be from coal.

1099
01:04:38,570 --> 01:04:41,138
In Russia,
there is also some indecision

1100
01:04:41,181 --> 01:04:42,966
about their energy future.

1101
01:04:43,227 --> 01:04:46,186
It has a lot
of cheap methane gas,

1102
01:04:46,230 --> 01:04:48,972
which can supply electricity
and can be exported

1103
01:04:49,015 --> 01:04:51,278
successfully to other
countries,

1104
01:04:51,322 --> 01:04:54,020
though at the cost
of accelerating climate change.

1105
01:04:54,499 --> 01:04:57,197
But Russia has
a significant nuclear program

1106
01:04:57,241 --> 01:05:00,200
as their government agency,
Rosatom, employs some

1107
01:05:00,244 --> 01:05:03,551
quarter million engineers,
researchers and employees.

1108
01:05:03,595 --> 01:05:04,770
[Speaking Russian]

1109
01:05:06,380 --> 01:05:08,905
[Translator] Global warming,
which is caused by CO2 emission,

1110
01:05:08,948 --> 01:05:11,690
is something which
is very painfully felt here

1111
01:05:11,733 --> 01:05:15,476
in Russia because a big chunk
of Russia's territory

1112
01:05:15,520 --> 01:05:18,088
is located closer to the north.

1113
01:05:18,131 --> 01:05:21,482
This is why we actually feel
all these variations

1114
01:05:21,526 --> 01:05:24,007
in temperature.

1115
01:05:24,050 --> 01:05:27,097
So I'll give you an example,
Mr. Stone.

1116
01:05:27,140 --> 01:05:31,362
Currently in the world
there is 490 gigawatts

1117
01:05:31,405 --> 01:05:33,407
of installed nuclear capacity.

1118
01:05:33,451 --> 01:05:38,195
If we replace this with gas
or oil power generation,

1119
01:05:38,238 --> 01:05:42,329
that would cause emission
of more than two billion tons

1120
01:05:42,373 --> 01:05:44,723
of CO2 into the atmosphere.

1121
01:05:46,725 --> 01:05:50,555
So nuclear industry
is in fact an extra lung

1122
01:05:50,598 --> 01:05:52,209
that our world has.

1123
01:05:53,384 --> 01:05:55,690
[Narrator] Well said.
An extra lung.

1124
01:06:00,652 --> 01:06:02,480
When it joined
the World Trade Organization

1125
01:06:02,523 --> 01:06:05,439
on favorable terms in 2001,

1126
01:06:06,136 --> 01:06:08,268
China became
the world's workshop.

1127
01:06:11,402 --> 01:06:15,797
Incomes rose for hundreds
of millions of people.

1128
01:06:15,841 --> 01:06:19,584
And with agricultural
and computer progress,

1129
01:06:19,627 --> 01:06:22,543
the expectations of people
in general brightened.

1130
01:06:23,718 --> 01:06:26,025
But the worm in the apple
was that as the West moved

1131
01:06:26,069 --> 01:06:28,071
much of its
manufacturing to China,

1132
01:06:29,681 --> 01:06:32,466
more and more coal was burned.

1133
01:06:32,510 --> 01:06:37,602
Half of the world's coal
is now burned in China.

1134
01:06:37,645 --> 01:06:39,865
The poster child
of this shift was

1135
01:06:39,908 --> 01:06:43,738
the San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge built by China.

1136
01:06:43,782 --> 01:06:46,176
Its pieces then shipped over
and put together

1137
01:06:46,219 --> 01:06:48,961
in the Bay Area in 2013.

1138
01:06:49,353 --> 01:06:51,833
California brags
that it doesn't burn coal.

1139
01:06:52,312 --> 01:06:54,619
It's a nice and clean state,

1140
01:06:54,662 --> 01:06:57,317
when China burns the coal
for California.

1141
01:06:58,797 --> 01:07:02,714
China has a major decision
to make which will impact

1142
01:07:02,757 --> 01:07:04,498
all our futures.

1143
01:07:04,977 --> 01:07:07,240
Does it modernize
or does it continue

1144
01:07:07,284 --> 01:07:10,765
down the path of coal?

1145
01:07:10,809 --> 01:07:12,941
China's emissions combined
with the United States

1146
01:07:12,985 --> 01:07:15,205
make up almost half
of the world's total.

1147
01:07:17,729 --> 01:07:21,298
The key to decarbonization lies
in these two countries

1148
01:07:21,602 --> 01:07:24,301
who ideally should be partners
in this global issue.

1149
01:07:27,782 --> 01:07:30,698
[Goldstein] What's scary is not
the same as what's dangerous.

1150
01:07:31,003 --> 01:07:33,919
Coal is dangerous.

1151
01:07:33,962 --> 01:07:36,530
It kills millions
of people every year.

1152
01:07:36,574 --> 01:07:40,012
More people die from coal
in a couple of weeks

1153
01:07:40,056 --> 01:07:41,753
than have ever died
from nuclear,

1154
01:07:41,796 --> 01:07:44,060
which is all from the one
accident in Chernobyl.

1155
01:07:44,930 --> 01:07:47,628
People are scared of flying
because it's dramatic.

1156
01:07:47,672 --> 01:07:50,370
If a plane crashes,
you know you're going to die.

1157
01:07:53,286 --> 01:07:54,983
[Whip] I'd say severe
turbulence,

1158
01:07:55,027 --> 01:07:56,463
definitely severe turbulence.

1159
01:07:58,117 --> 01:07:59,379
[Goldstein] And they can't get
that image out of their mind,

1160
01:07:59,423 --> 01:08:00,902
But actually,
driving is far more dangerous

1161
01:08:00,946 --> 01:08:01,816
than flying.

1162
01:08:04,167 --> 01:08:06,995
And in the same way,
a nuclear accident

1163
01:08:07,039 --> 01:08:09,824
because of all this hype
around nuclear power

1164
01:08:09,868 --> 01:08:10,738
scares people.

1165
01:08:11,913 --> 01:08:14,133
But actually it's orders
of magnitude safer

1166
01:08:14,177 --> 01:08:16,353
than fossil fuel,
especially coal.

1167
01:08:16,788 --> 01:08:20,051
It's as though you're
on a bridge and a train

1168
01:08:20,095 --> 01:08:21,706
is coming onto the bridge.

1169
01:08:25,449 --> 01:08:26,666
[Gordie] Train!

1170
01:08:29,279 --> 01:08:31,716
[Goldstein] And the train coming
at you is climate change.

1171
01:08:31,759 --> 01:08:32,630
[Vern] Oh, shit.

1172
01:08:34,283 --> 01:08:35,807
[Goldstein] And what we're doing
is trying to run off the bridge

1173
01:08:35,850 --> 01:08:37,287
away from the train,
but we don't have time

1174
01:08:37,330 --> 01:08:38,288
to get off the bridge.

1175
01:08:38,331 --> 01:08:39,985
That's our renewables,

1176
01:08:40,028 --> 01:08:42,074
that's our personal
carbon footprint,

1177
01:08:42,422 --> 01:08:45,164
all the little things
that we're supposed to do.

1178
01:08:45,208 --> 01:08:47,166
But it's not working
and the thing that we have

1179
01:08:47,210 --> 01:08:49,951
that we know works is
to jump off the bridge

1180
01:08:49,995 --> 01:08:53,477
into the water below,
and that's nuclear power.

1181
01:08:53,520 --> 01:08:55,827
The jump is scary,
but it's the train that's going

1182
01:08:55,870 --> 01:08:56,958
to kill you.

1183
01:09:01,528 --> 01:09:04,139
[Narrator] Many in the West's
post-industrial lifestyle

1184
01:09:04,183 --> 01:09:07,012
feel they're taking steps
in the right direction.

1185
01:09:07,055 --> 01:09:08,013
And they are.

1186
01:09:09,318 --> 01:09:10,755
People preach
the green gospel.

1187
01:09:10,798 --> 01:09:13,192
They recycle,
they install solar panels

1188
01:09:13,236 --> 01:09:16,804
and look for sustainability
in their consumer brands.

1189
01:09:16,848 --> 01:09:20,112
Turn out the lights,
drive more efficient cars,

1190
01:09:20,156 --> 01:09:22,723
reduce your carbon footprint.

1191
01:09:22,767 --> 01:09:24,943
We do things
that are politically doable,

1192
01:09:24,986 --> 01:09:27,511
affordable, convenient,
and make us feel good

1193
01:09:27,554 --> 01:09:29,687
about being virtuous,
better citizens.

1194
01:09:31,341 --> 01:09:33,343
And we all hope
somewhat blindly

1195
01:09:33,386 --> 01:09:35,214
that these things will add up.

1196
01:09:36,433 --> 01:09:37,869
But they don't.

1197
01:09:40,915 --> 01:09:43,004
So what do we need to do?

1198
01:09:43,048 --> 01:09:45,050
How do we solve this problem
in a better way

1199
01:09:45,093 --> 01:09:47,183
than just trying to add up
things that don't get

1200
01:09:47,226 --> 01:09:48,358
to a solution?

1201
01:09:49,750 --> 01:09:51,665
The answer is
to think objectively,

1202
01:09:51,709 --> 01:09:53,318
top down from the future,

1203
01:09:53,362 --> 01:09:56,670
Back to now
and be very honest.

1204
01:09:57,105 --> 01:09:59,585
Where do we actually need
to be in 2050

1205
01:09:59,630 --> 01:10:02,241
to solve carbon emissions?

1206
01:10:02,285 --> 01:10:04,156
And working backwards
from there,

1207
01:10:04,200 --> 01:10:07,681
what steps can we take
to get to that solution?

1208
01:10:11,424 --> 01:10:14,384
One place to start
is to include everyone

1209
01:10:14,427 --> 01:10:17,343
in our thinking,
not only the billion people

1210
01:10:17,387 --> 01:10:19,344
living in the richer parts
of the world

1211
01:10:20,693 --> 01:10:23,219
but the 7 billion who don't.

1212
01:10:23,262 --> 01:10:27,223
And are now producing two
thirds of carbon emissions.

1213
01:10:27,484 --> 01:10:30,574
Seven hundred million of whom
don't have any access

1214
01:10:30,617 --> 01:10:31,749
to electricity.

1215
01:10:33,316 --> 01:10:35,013
Did the West think
the populations of China,

1216
01:10:35,056 --> 01:10:38,843
Africa, India, South America
and the Middle East

1217
01:10:38,886 --> 01:10:40,584
wouldn't want what we have?

1218
01:10:41,062 --> 01:10:43,674
Electricity in their homes,
cars, computers,

1219
01:10:43,717 --> 01:10:47,112
air conditioners,
modernized agriculture?

1220
01:10:47,547 --> 01:10:50,028
Or at a more basic level,
if your destiny is

1221
01:10:50,071 --> 01:10:53,597
to grind sugarcane
by hand in India,

1222
01:10:54,075 --> 01:10:56,121
that destiny
can be hugely transformed

1223
01:10:56,164 --> 01:10:57,469
by an electric grinder.

1224
01:10:59,166 --> 01:11:00,778
That's why poorer countries
are building electricity

1225
01:11:00,821 --> 01:11:04,956
generation as fast as they can,
and they're using the cheapest,

1226
01:11:04,999 --> 01:11:07,698
fastest, simplest technology
they can find.

1227
01:11:08,960 --> 01:11:11,092
Coal.

1228
01:11:11,136 --> 01:11:14,270
Can the West now seriously
tell billions of people

1229
01:11:14,791 --> 01:11:16,576
they can't enjoy
a life changing event

1230
01:11:16,620 --> 01:11:17,577
like electricity?

1231
01:11:19,710 --> 01:11:21,799
Because we've already
burned up most of the carbon

1232
01:11:21,842 --> 01:11:22,930
the planet can afford?

1233
01:11:24,454 --> 01:11:25,977
Did we think
these populations would use

1234
01:11:26,020 --> 01:11:27,892
less energy than we did?

1235
01:11:28,371 --> 01:11:29,850
And the truth
be fully known,

1236
01:11:29,894 --> 01:11:32,288
it's not just
electricity we need.

1237
01:11:32,636 --> 01:11:35,378
That's only a third
of the total,

1238
01:11:35,421 --> 01:11:37,380
because two thirds
of the energy related

1239
01:11:37,423 --> 01:11:40,425
carbon dioxide emissions come
from non-electric sources.

1240
01:11:41,818 --> 01:11:45,562
That is most transportation,
including cars, trucks,

1241
01:11:45,605 --> 01:11:47,868
trains, ships and planes.

1242
01:11:48,478 --> 01:11:50,827
Secondly,
industries such as steel,

1243
01:11:50,871 --> 01:11:52,830
cement and fertilizer.

1244
01:11:53,134 --> 01:11:56,616
And thirdly,
the heating of homes, offices

1245
01:11:57,008 --> 01:12:00,620
and all buildings
which are not yet electrified.

1246
01:12:00,664 --> 01:12:03,493
And just to get these sectors
off the coal, oil and gas

1247
01:12:03,536 --> 01:12:06,496
they depend on,
they need to be electrified,

1248
01:12:06,539 --> 01:12:10,237
which will enormously multiply
demand for clean electricity.

1249
01:12:10,717 --> 01:12:14,068
The resulting volume
of carbon free electricity

1250
01:12:14,112 --> 01:12:15,940
needed over
the next thirty years

1251
01:12:15,983 --> 01:12:17,942
is almost unimaginable.

1252
01:12:18,377 --> 01:12:21,684
It depends on several factors,
but realistic estimates

1253
01:12:21,728 --> 01:12:24,557
range from two to four times
the electricity

1254
01:12:24,601 --> 01:12:27,778
we currently use.

1255
01:12:27,821 --> 01:12:31,259
The world is not standing still
as this is going on.

1256
01:12:31,303 --> 01:12:34,350
All these economies are growing
fast month by month,

1257
01:12:34,393 --> 01:12:35,786
year by year.

1258
01:12:36,264 --> 01:12:38,309
We're going to need
a gigantic amount

1259
01:12:38,353 --> 01:12:44,403
of clean electricity by 2050.
Two, three, maybe four times

1260
01:12:44,447 --> 01:12:47,188
all the electricity we use now.

1261
01:12:47,232 --> 01:12:50,975
And it has to be cheap enough
to outcompete coal and gas

1262
01:12:51,018 --> 01:12:53,107
and also scalable,
able to be built

1263
01:12:53,151 --> 01:12:55,893
in large quantities
and at quicker speed.

1264
01:12:58,504 --> 01:13:01,072
Realism dictates
that renewables aren't going

1265
01:13:01,115 --> 01:13:05,424
to be able
to bridge this energy gap.

1266
01:13:05,468 --> 01:13:08,775
And we don't have much time
till 2050 to switch

1267
01:13:08,818 --> 01:13:11,125
over an extremely large system.

1268
01:13:12,475 --> 01:13:17,044
So it becomes apparent
for the sake of humanity

1269
01:13:17,088 --> 01:13:20,700
that we must seriously
reconsider nuclear energy.

1270
01:13:25,009 --> 01:13:27,228
At present,
more than four hundred reactors

1271
01:13:27,272 --> 01:13:30,406
are producing over 10%
of the world's electricity.

1272
01:13:31,972 --> 01:13:34,496
Dozens of countries
are building more right now,

1273
01:13:34,540 --> 01:13:37,978
about fifty reactors
in 16 countries,

1274
01:13:38,022 --> 01:13:41,416
notably in China
India and Russia.

1275
01:13:41,460 --> 01:13:43,680
And another hundred
are on order.

1276
01:13:43,723 --> 01:13:45,986
Most of these in Eurasia,
with its rapidly

1277
01:13:46,030 --> 01:13:48,598
rising electricity demand.

1278
01:13:48,641 --> 01:13:51,296
Turkey, Bangladesh
and the United Arab Emirates

1279
01:13:51,339 --> 01:13:53,037
are newcomers to the game.

1280
01:13:54,995 --> 01:13:58,259
President Xi Jinping
surprisingly suddenly announced

1281
01:13:58,303 --> 01:14:02,175
in 2020 to the United Nations
that China intended

1282
01:14:02,219 --> 01:14:06,050
to drop its carbon emissions
to zero by 2060.

1283
01:14:06,790 --> 01:14:08,313
This is a huge commitment.

1284
01:14:09,139 --> 01:14:11,447
But can China deliver?

1285
01:14:11,490 --> 01:14:14,928
They have 37 nuclear reactors
and are building 19 more,

1286
01:14:14,972 --> 01:14:16,843
which is faster
than anyone else.

1287
01:14:18,671 --> 01:14:20,412
They hook a new reactor
to the grid every two

1288
01:14:20,456 --> 01:14:21,718
to three months.

1289
01:14:23,197 --> 01:14:24,938
Having adapted American,
Russian, Canadian

1290
01:14:24,982 --> 01:14:28,376
and French designs
over the years,

1291
01:14:28,420 --> 01:14:31,075
the Chinese now have
their own design.

1292
01:14:31,118 --> 01:14:34,034
The Hualong One,
which took about five years

1293
01:14:34,077 --> 01:14:37,516
to build
and is now in operation.

1294
01:14:37,559 --> 01:14:40,693
These are inexpensive,
heavy workhorse reactors

1295
01:14:40,737 --> 01:14:44,654
that can be built by the tens,
maybe by the hundreds.

1296
01:14:44,697 --> 01:14:47,918
China also is building
the Linglong One,

1297
01:14:47,960 --> 01:14:52,183
a low cost small modular
reactor called an SMR,

1298
01:14:52,226 --> 01:14:55,447
a technology first deployed by
the Russians.

1299
01:14:55,491 --> 01:14:58,450
It's about one third the size
of the Hualong One

1300
01:14:58,494 --> 01:15:02,628
and can be built in a factory
and either sited on land

1301
01:15:02,672 --> 01:15:06,371
or barged to locations around
the world and plugged in.

1302
01:15:09,156 --> 01:15:12,159
Whether China's standardizes

1303
01:15:12,202 --> 01:15:15,684
and replicates
its big reactors or small ones,

1304
01:15:15,728 --> 01:15:20,037
we will be investing deeply
in the future of this century.

1305
01:15:20,080 --> 01:15:22,387
These reactors are going
to last fifty to eighty years

1306
01:15:22,430 --> 01:15:23,475
or more.

1307
01:15:25,346 --> 01:15:28,262
There's no question the cost
of building nuclear plants,

1308
01:15:28,306 --> 01:15:30,960
though dropping,
is still huge.

1309
01:15:31,222 --> 01:15:34,573
The positive side is they're
inexpensive to operate.

1310
01:15:36,009 --> 01:15:38,316
And once the pattern
of building is established

1311
01:15:38,359 --> 01:15:40,666
successfully,
reactors could conceivably

1312
01:15:40,710 --> 01:15:43,582
be built like airliners
or giant turbines

1313
01:15:43,626 --> 01:15:46,977
on a factory scale
at a central location.

1314
01:15:49,849 --> 01:15:53,636
The first fully functional SMR
has already been successfully

1315
01:15:53,679 --> 01:15:59,337
deployed in Russia in a remote
but important Arctic port town,

1316
01:15:59,380 --> 01:16:01,295
Pevek.

1317
01:16:01,339 --> 01:16:03,646
Built in the Saint Petersburg
shipyards,

1318
01:16:03,689 --> 01:16:05,778
the plant was barged to the
Arctic.

1319
01:16:08,433 --> 01:16:11,218
Greenpeace called
it a nuclear Titanic.

1320
01:16:12,698 --> 01:16:16,309
But it dodged the icebergs,
arrived in a new home,

1321
01:16:16,353 --> 01:16:18,965
plugged into both the grid
and the district heating system

1322
01:16:19,009 --> 01:16:21,968
for the town's buildings,
and in 2020 was powering

1323
01:16:22,012 --> 01:16:24,318
the town without a problem.

1324
01:16:25,668 --> 01:16:27,452
Similar to the United States,

1325
01:16:27,495 --> 01:16:29,802
Russia is operating 35 reactors

1326
01:16:31,064 --> 01:16:34,502
accounting for almost
20% of its electricity.

1327
01:16:36,809 --> 01:16:39,464
But unlike the United States,
Russia is building

1328
01:16:39,507 --> 01:16:42,380
a new reactor each year
to replace retirements

1329
01:16:42,423 --> 01:16:44,687
and raise the nuclear share
of electricity

1330
01:16:44,730 --> 01:16:46,645
to what they plan,
if they stick to it,

1331
01:16:47,341 --> 01:16:51,693
50% by mid-century
and 75% by century's end.

1332
01:16:53,260 --> 01:16:56,568
Russia with 60% of the market
is the world's leader

1333
01:16:56,612 --> 01:16:58,875
in exporting larger reactors

1334
01:16:58,918 --> 01:17:02,487
specializing in turnkey plants
that it designs, builds

1335
01:17:02,530 --> 01:17:03,706
and operates.

1336
01:17:04,445 --> 01:17:06,577
Dozens of projects
are under way

1337
01:17:06,621 --> 01:17:11,103
in India, China, Bangladesh,
Turkey and elsewhere.

1338
01:17:14,064 --> 01:17:17,327
The most ambitious development
in Russia is its fast

1339
01:17:17,371 --> 01:17:19,504
breeder reactors,
which we visited close

1340
01:17:19,547 --> 01:17:22,725
to the foot
of the Ural Mountains.

1341
01:17:22,768 --> 01:17:24,117
[Likhachev - Speaking Russian]

1342
01:17:25,205 --> 01:17:27,425
[Translator] Beloyarsk
is a unique facility.

1343
01:17:27,468 --> 01:17:31,255
It's the only industrial scale
fast reactor in the world.

1344
01:17:31,951 --> 01:17:37,043
In a conventional reactor,
uranium fuel gradually degrades,

1345
01:17:37,087 --> 01:17:41,439
whereas in fast neutron reactor
it becomes higher

1346
01:17:41,482 --> 01:17:42,788
and higher grade.

1347
01:17:43,093 --> 01:17:46,618
Then you have a capability
to recycle the same fuel

1348
01:17:46,662 --> 01:17:47,793
multiple times.

1349
01:17:50,361 --> 01:17:52,624
[Translator] So we operate
using the waste

1350
01:17:52,668 --> 01:17:54,147
from other reactor types.

1351
01:17:54,191 --> 01:17:56,846
We don't extract resources
from the earth.

1352
01:17:56,889 --> 01:17:59,370
[Narrator] And why do you call
it Fast Breeder?

1353
01:17:59,413 --> 01:18:00,501
- Because we breed,

1354
01:18:00,763 --> 01:18:03,416
we produce more fuel
than we burn.

1355
01:18:03,460 --> 01:18:06,898
This is the most advanced
nuclear reactor in the world.

1356
01:18:06,943 --> 01:18:08,422
[Narrator] With breeder
reactors,

1357
01:18:08,466 --> 01:18:10,990
no one yet knows
if this technology

1358
01:18:11,034 --> 01:18:12,862
will be cheap enough
to standardize

1359
01:18:12,905 --> 01:18:16,213
and be the complete
breakthrough technology.

1360
01:18:17,562 --> 01:18:20,521
Or perhaps it'll
be the model for the next stage

1361
01:18:20,565 --> 01:18:22,219
and so on.

1362
01:18:22,262 --> 01:18:24,787
Like any science,
nuclear keeps adapting

1363
01:18:24,830 --> 01:18:26,657
and renewing itself.

1364
01:18:29,052 --> 01:18:33,665
In 2021, Europe split into pro
and anti nuclear camps.

1365
01:18:34,971 --> 01:18:37,713
The United Kingdom has begun
to build again

1366
01:18:37,755 --> 01:18:39,540
with multiple reactors planned.

1367
01:18:41,760 --> 01:18:43,588
The Netherlands, Poland and
much

1368
01:18:43,630 --> 01:18:46,156
of Eastern Europe all intend
to build new plants

1369
01:18:46,416 --> 01:18:47,679
in the coming decades.

1370
01:18:50,856 --> 01:18:55,773
But with its 56 nuclear
reactors and more promised,

1371
01:18:55,818 --> 01:18:59,212
France continues
to be the true world leader

1372
01:18:59,255 --> 01:19:00,431
in clean energy.

1373
01:19:02,259 --> 01:19:03,564
[Engineer - Speaking French]

1374
01:19:31,984 --> 01:19:34,334
And when they look at it,
they see that the end price

1375
01:19:34,378 --> 01:19:37,816
for corporations
and for households

1376
01:19:37,860 --> 01:19:40,558
is significantly less
in France than it is

1377
01:19:40,601 --> 01:19:42,081
in all
the neighboring countries.

1378
01:19:42,125 --> 01:19:46,825
We believe that in 2050
mankind has the ability

1379
01:19:46,869 --> 01:19:51,612
to be a net zero planet
or very close to net zero

1380
01:19:51,656 --> 01:19:54,877
in order for global warming
to stop.

1381
01:19:54,920 --> 01:19:56,617
We need global warming to stop.

1382
01:19:56,661 --> 01:20:00,186
We believe electricity
is the key success factor

1383
01:20:00,230 --> 01:20:02,710
in managing
global warming issues,

1384
01:20:02,754 --> 01:20:05,800
and we believe there is,
there are a lot of solutions

1385
01:20:05,844 --> 01:20:10,588
and nuclear is a key part
of these solutions.

1386
01:20:10,630 --> 01:20:11,589
[Engineer - Speaking French]

1387
01:20:40,052 --> 01:20:41,619
Voila.

1388
01:20:41,662 --> 01:20:43,316
Welcome
to the swimming pool.

1389
01:20:45,841 --> 01:20:48,669
The water is hot, clear

1390
01:20:48,713 --> 01:20:49,627
[Speaking French]

1391
01:22:03,919 --> 01:22:06,746
[Narrator] France still
to this day, runs a clean grid

1392
01:22:07,009 --> 01:22:08,880
with one third
of the carbon emissions

1393
01:22:08,924 --> 01:22:11,969
per person of the United
States.

1394
01:22:12,014 --> 01:22:14,407
Truly a major accomplishment.

1395
01:22:17,671 --> 01:22:20,022
This brings us around
to the United States

1396
01:22:20,065 --> 01:22:25,070
still dependent on fossil
fuels. 40% gas, 20% coal.

1397
01:22:26,289 --> 01:22:29,161
Despite tripling output
in the last decade,

1398
01:22:29,205 --> 01:22:32,773
wind power only supplies 8%
of the nation's electricity.

1399
01:22:33,165 --> 01:22:35,820
And solar power,
despite its highly publicized

1400
01:22:35,862 --> 01:22:39,737
fast growth
generates only 2 to 3%.

1401
01:22:40,737 --> 01:22:43,741
But public support
for nuclear energy has grown,

1402
01:22:43,784 --> 01:22:47,397
in fact, to 60% in 2021.

1403
01:22:47,440 --> 01:22:50,356
I was reading the book
about the Wright brothers.

1404
01:22:50,400 --> 01:22:53,228
You know, they started
this as bicycle mechanics,

1405
01:22:53,272 --> 01:22:56,536
but they wanted to fly
and they kept doing it

1406
01:22:56,580 --> 01:22:59,017
and doing it and doing it.
It took forever.

1407
01:22:59,061 --> 01:23:03,065
They flew twenty feet,
thirty feet a minute.

1408
01:23:03,108 --> 01:23:05,632
It was a long haul,
eight, nine years,

1409
01:23:05,675 --> 01:23:09,332
but they did it
and they were the best fliers.

1410
01:23:09,375 --> 01:23:11,638
Well, it just shows you
that tenacity

1411
01:23:11,682 --> 01:23:13,901
in scientific matters
is crucial.

1412
01:23:13,945 --> 01:23:15,512
[Goldstein] And certainly
the nuclear industry

1413
01:23:15,555 --> 01:23:18,906
in the United States has done
that as it keeps

1414
01:23:18,950 --> 01:23:19,951
being counted out.

1415
01:23:21,257 --> 01:23:22,258
- Counted out
for debt in the United States.

1416
01:23:22,300 --> 01:23:23,172
Never in the world.

1417
01:23:23,215 --> 01:23:24,085
- That's right.

1418
01:23:25,174 --> 01:23:26,175
Too good to let it die off.
- Yeah.

1419
01:23:26,218 --> 01:23:27,480
It's too good
to let it die off.

1420
01:23:27,523 --> 01:23:28,612
- Yeah.

1421
01:23:30,353 --> 01:23:31,136
[Narrator] The spirit of
innovation has always defined

1422
01:23:31,180 --> 01:23:31,832
America's character.

1423
01:23:33,138 --> 01:23:34,139
And now 50 or more
new companies

1424
01:23:34,183 --> 01:23:35,880
have entered the energy field

1425
01:23:35,923 --> 01:23:38,317
with creative new designs
for nuclear reactors

1426
01:23:38,361 --> 01:23:42,191
with a focus on SMRs.

1427
01:23:42,234 --> 01:23:45,107
These new reactors are small,
taking up a fraction

1428
01:23:45,150 --> 01:23:48,284
of the footprint needed
for traditional nuclear power

1429
01:23:48,327 --> 01:23:49,546
reactors.

1430
01:23:49,807 --> 01:23:51,200
They're modular,
making it possible

1431
01:23:51,243 --> 01:23:53,463
for these designs
to be scaled up

1432
01:23:53,505 --> 01:23:57,728
and factory assembled,
and their reactors utilizing

1433
01:23:57,771 --> 01:24:00,861
the same reliable
nuclear fission technology

1434
01:24:00,905 --> 01:24:04,735
to generate heat
to produce electricity.

1435
01:24:04,778 --> 01:24:09,130
[Adams] There's two
fairly significant projects

1436
01:24:09,174 --> 01:24:14,136
that are going
to be built by the end of 2028.

1437
01:24:14,179 --> 01:24:15,833
First of all,
the partnership

1438
01:24:15,876 --> 01:24:19,924
between Bill Gates' TerraPower
and General Hitachi.

1439
01:24:19,967 --> 01:24:22,535
It's called
the Natrium Facility,

1440
01:24:22,579 --> 01:24:26,800
and it's going to heat a set
of molten salt tanks.

1441
01:24:27,496 --> 01:24:30,282
The other one of these
advanced reactor demonstration

1442
01:24:30,326 --> 01:24:33,503
projects is by a company
called X-energy,

1443
01:24:33,546 --> 01:24:35,896
initially funded
by an entrepreneur

1444
01:24:35,940 --> 01:24:37,507
from the space program.

1445
01:24:37,550 --> 01:24:39,596
So we're actually
building stuff.

1446
01:24:40,291 --> 01:24:42,207
[Narrator] And bigger
American companies

1447
01:24:42,251 --> 01:24:44,731
like General Electric
are also building new reactors

1448
01:24:44,775 --> 01:24:47,691
in partnership
with Hitachi of Japan.

1449
01:24:48,735 --> 01:24:50,693
They've designed
a most promising,

1450
01:24:50,737 --> 01:24:54,306
low cost, workhorse,
boiling water reactor

1451
01:24:54,350 --> 01:24:56,352
built in a factory
and dropped into a hole

1452
01:24:56,395 --> 01:24:57,266
on site.

1453
01:24:58,745 --> 01:25:01,661
The SMR is scheduled for
completion by 2028

1454
01:25:02,139 --> 01:25:04,577
and then it can be built
as a fleet.

1455
01:25:04,838 --> 01:25:08,364
There are high hopes
and demand from the utilities

1456
01:25:08,407 --> 01:25:11,758
for this potentially
breakthrough reactor.

1457
01:25:11,802 --> 01:25:14,934
China and Russia seem
to be the leading explorers

1458
01:25:14,978 --> 01:25:16,023
in this field.

1459
01:25:16,067 --> 01:25:16,894
[Adams] Absolutely.

1460
01:25:18,374 --> 01:25:19,462
[Narrator] If General Electric's
got this kind of thing

1461
01:25:19,505 --> 01:25:20,898
with a Japanese company
called Hitachi,

1462
01:25:20,941 --> 01:25:22,987
why are we not going
all out on this?

1463
01:25:23,379 --> 01:25:27,209
- Part of the problem
is that General Electric

1464
01:25:27,252 --> 01:25:32,170
has a, it's a very large company
with a very small

1465
01:25:32,431 --> 01:25:34,477
nuclear division.

1466
01:25:34,520 --> 01:25:37,219
General Electric
has a huge business

1467
01:25:37,262 --> 01:25:41,657
in wind turbines, gas turbines
and natural gas

1468
01:25:41,701 --> 01:25:43,094
drilling equipment.

1469
01:25:43,442 --> 01:25:47,272
Their priority is a little low
in the nuclear range.

1470
01:25:47,316 --> 01:25:49,666
[Narrator] So perhaps there's
an advantage to these new,

1471
01:25:49,709 --> 01:25:51,624
smaller energy companies.

1472
01:25:51,668 --> 01:25:54,888
They comprise a whole
new generation of young people

1473
01:25:54,932 --> 01:25:57,543
who are focused
primarily on nuclear.

1474
01:25:57,587 --> 01:25:59,937
And the Department of Energy
is working with several

1475
01:25:59,980 --> 01:26:02,157
of these startups
to build prototypes

1476
01:26:02,200 --> 01:26:04,681
at America's first
nuclear test lab,

1477
01:26:04,724 --> 01:26:07,466
the Idaho National Laboratory.

1478
01:26:08,598 --> 01:26:11,644
Located on the outskirts
of Atomic City, Idaho,

1479
01:26:11,688 --> 01:26:14,212
and established in 1949,

1480
01:26:14,255 --> 01:26:16,648
this facility,
known as The Site,

1481
01:26:16,693 --> 01:26:19,652
has provided the space
for several organizations

1482
01:26:19,696 --> 01:26:22,177
to build
over 50 reactors to date,

1483
01:26:22,873 --> 01:26:25,657
including Admiral Rickover's
groundbreaking engine

1484
01:26:25,702 --> 01:26:27,878
for the USS Nautilus.

1485
01:26:32,796 --> 01:26:36,495
Today, the lab is the epicenter
for the next generation

1486
01:26:36,539 --> 01:26:37,931
of reactors.

1487
01:26:38,889 --> 01:26:40,978
And you work for the government,
right?

1488
01:26:41,021 --> 01:26:42,806
- So I'm the director
of the National Reactor

1489
01:26:42,849 --> 01:26:44,242
Innovation Center,

1490
01:26:44,286 --> 01:26:46,723
and that's also called NRIC
for short.

1491
01:26:46,766 --> 01:26:48,507
Enric is charged
with accelerating

1492
01:26:48,550 --> 01:26:50,379
the demonstration
of advanced reactor

1493
01:26:50,422 --> 01:26:53,251
technologies in partnership
with private industry.

1494
01:26:53,295 --> 01:26:55,340
[Narrator] So what are we going
to do about the climate?

1495
01:26:55,384 --> 01:26:57,299
What's the best solution
in your mind?

1496
01:26:57,342 --> 01:26:59,779
- I think that it's
straightforward to get

1497
01:26:59,823 --> 01:27:03,305
to the first 30% renewables
and then probably 50

1498
01:27:03,348 --> 01:27:05,045
and even greater.

1499
01:27:05,089 --> 01:27:07,526
But when we get
to higher levels of

1500
01:27:07,570 --> 01:27:09,049
deep decarbonization,

1501
01:27:09,920 --> 01:27:11,530
we really find
that we need firm,

1502
01:27:11,574 --> 01:27:14,141
low carbon resources to have
the most affordable

1503
01:27:14,184 --> 01:27:15,404
decarbonization.

1504
01:27:15,665 --> 01:27:18,276
- And that would be?
- Largely nuclear.

1505
01:27:19,669 --> 01:27:23,063
Where the United States
excels most is in innovation.

1506
01:27:23,107 --> 01:27:27,067
And the Department of Energy
has made an enormous investment

1507
01:27:27,111 --> 01:27:29,896
in advanced reactor
demonstration projects.

1508
01:27:29,940 --> 01:27:32,682
And my organization
is working closely

1509
01:27:32,725 --> 01:27:35,902
with the companies
who are pursuing those designs.

1510
01:27:35,946 --> 01:27:37,773
Our vision
is that we help

1511
01:27:37,817 --> 01:27:39,645
demonstrate at least two
advanced reactors

1512
01:27:39,689 --> 01:27:41,517
by the end of 2025.

1513
01:27:42,605 --> 01:27:45,825
We need nuclear energy
to address climate change,

1514
01:27:45,869 --> 01:27:49,481
and nuclear energy
is one of the safest forms

1515
01:27:49,525 --> 01:27:50,960
of energy that we have.

1516
01:27:51,004 --> 01:27:53,398
- On Capitol Hill,
do they care about that?

1517
01:27:53,833 --> 01:27:55,574
- There is growing
bipartisan support

1518
01:27:55,618 --> 01:27:57,010
for advanced nuclear.

1519
01:27:58,664 --> 01:28:00,187
More so than there has been for
the traditional technologies.

1520
01:28:00,231 --> 01:28:03,669
But there's a large audience
that we haven't reached yet.

1521
01:28:03,713 --> 01:28:06,803
And my view is that
we need advanced technologies

1522
01:28:06,846 --> 01:28:10,327
because if we're going
to have nuclear meaningfully

1523
01:28:10,371 --> 01:28:13,636
addressing climate change,
it needs to scale globally

1524
01:28:13,679 --> 01:28:15,377
in a really big way.

1525
01:28:15,420 --> 01:28:17,987
I mean, in the United States,
our electricity demand

1526
01:28:18,031 --> 01:28:21,252
is fairly stagnant,
but that is not true globally.

1527
01:28:21,296 --> 01:28:23,602
Globally,
it's skyrocketing

1528
01:28:23,646 --> 01:28:27,389
and we have to provide clean,
affordable energy

1529
01:28:27,432 --> 01:28:28,781
to the world.

1530
01:28:28,825 --> 01:28:31,480
- That's a good point.
India, China.

1531
01:28:31,523 --> 01:28:34,004
- Africa and the Middle East.
- Africa.

1532
01:28:34,047 --> 01:28:36,528
- Yeah.
All growing very rapidly.

1533
01:28:36,572 --> 01:28:38,138
The other thing
that we can look at is

1534
01:28:38,182 --> 01:28:39,443
what is the alternative?

1535
01:28:39,705 --> 01:28:41,838
And if the alternative
is climate change,

1536
01:28:41,880 --> 01:28:45,842
that is
a much more serious risk.

1537
01:28:48,627 --> 01:28:51,237
- We need
to do nuclear differently.

1538
01:28:51,282 --> 01:28:53,153
And this is where we're going

1539
01:28:53,197 --> 01:28:55,373
to build our first reactor.

1540
01:28:55,416 --> 01:28:56,548
[Narrator] You're going
to build the reactor here?

1541
01:28:56,896 --> 01:28:57,809
- We're going
to build the reactor here.

1542
01:28:58,071 --> 01:28:59,159
- Do you know where?
- Yeah.

1543
01:29:00,422 --> 01:29:02,380
Basically out in there.
Pretty neat, right?

1544
01:29:02,424 --> 01:29:05,077
Because this is the first
advanced reactor that's going

1545
01:29:05,121 --> 01:29:07,124
to be a commercial plant
that gets built

1546
01:29:07,166 --> 01:29:08,734
in the United States.

1547
01:29:08,778 --> 01:29:10,648
And it's a micro reactor,
which is different.

1548
01:29:10,693 --> 01:29:12,782
You know, it's a lot smaller
than what we have today.

1549
01:29:12,825 --> 01:29:15,262
It starts at one
and a half megawatts electric.

1550
01:29:15,306 --> 01:29:17,090
- So that's going
to light up how many homes?

1551
01:29:17,134 --> 01:29:18,527
- It's like a thousand homes.

1552
01:29:18,570 --> 01:29:20,180
- A thousand homes?
- Yeah.

1553
01:29:20,224 --> 01:29:22,922
Really well suited for,
you know, small towns,

1554
01:29:22,966 --> 01:29:24,532
small communities.

1555
01:29:24,576 --> 01:29:26,404
- But you're going to build
a micro reactor and it's going

1556
01:29:26,448 --> 01:29:28,406
to give you 1.5MW?

1557
01:29:28,450 --> 01:29:30,930
That's nothing compared
to some of the SMRs.

1558
01:29:30,974 --> 01:29:32,279
- Exactly.

1559
01:29:32,541 --> 01:29:34,499
- You know, if we start
with something so small,

1560
01:29:34,543 --> 01:29:36,414
then we can really meet
the regulations,

1561
01:29:36,458 --> 01:29:38,503
but do it efficiently
and quickly.

1562
01:29:38,547 --> 01:29:41,027
A big problem with nuclear
is maybe it takes a decade

1563
01:29:41,071 --> 01:29:42,681
and billions of dollars.

1564
01:29:42,725 --> 01:29:44,204
We want to show
that it can take a couple

1565
01:29:44,248 --> 01:29:46,293
of years and less money
while still meeting

1566
01:29:46,337 --> 01:29:47,469
the same regulations.

1567
01:29:47,817 --> 01:29:50,428
- Is it your money
or how does that work?

1568
01:29:50,472 --> 01:29:51,907
- We're a privately
funded company.

1569
01:29:51,951 --> 01:29:53,475
It is our money.

1570
01:29:53,518 --> 01:29:55,259
- Can I ask you roughly
how much you've spent?

1571
01:29:55,302 --> 01:29:57,043
- Yeah, less than
ten million dollars to date.

1572
01:29:57,392 --> 01:29:59,175
- So you've raised ten million,
less than ten million?

1573
01:29:59,219 --> 01:30:01,264
It's like Shark Tank. [Laughter]
- Yeah, kind of.

1574
01:30:01,700 --> 01:30:04,050
- We've talked a lot
about how we're starting small,

1575
01:30:04,311 --> 01:30:05,574
and so that's
where the aurora comes in

1576
01:30:05,617 --> 01:30:06,835
at one and one half megawatts.

1577
01:30:08,272 --> 01:30:09,795
And that provides a platform
on which we can scale,

1578
01:30:09,839 --> 01:30:11,188
because what's next for us
is something that's on the order

1579
01:30:11,231 --> 01:30:12,494
of about 15 megawatts

1580
01:30:12,537 --> 01:30:13,886
And from that we can go
all the way up,

1581
01:30:13,930 --> 01:30:15,452
potentially up to a hundred
or more.

1582
01:30:15,496 --> 01:30:16,889
[Narrator] And you would run
the plant?

1583
01:30:16,933 --> 01:30:19,414
- We'll run it.
By making it sort

1584
01:30:19,457 --> 01:30:22,068
of a simpler process
where we're selling the power

1585
01:30:22,112 --> 01:30:24,462
and the heat
and not the reactors,

1586
01:30:24,505 --> 01:30:26,202
that makes it easier to buy.

1587
01:30:26,246 --> 01:30:28,553
- So the utility company
you'd cut out?

1588
01:30:28,597 --> 01:30:29,641
How does that work?

1589
01:30:29,989 --> 01:30:31,687
- We see the utilities
mostly evolving

1590
01:30:31,730 --> 01:30:34,385
to wanting to run distribution
and transmission.

1591
01:30:34,429 --> 01:30:36,213
We act as
an independent power producer

1592
01:30:36,255 --> 01:30:38,344
and we just sell the power
to the local utilities

1593
01:30:38,389 --> 01:30:40,260
or into the market,
and then they can then

1594
01:30:40,304 --> 01:30:41,827
distribute it to the customers.

1595
01:30:41,871 --> 01:30:43,612
- Yeah, we're excited
about how that could

1596
01:30:43,655 --> 01:30:45,178
allow communities
to basically opt in

1597
01:30:45,222 --> 01:30:47,398
instead of feeling
like a huge plant

1598
01:30:47,442 --> 01:30:49,226
is being stuck
in their backyard.

1599
01:30:49,618 --> 01:30:51,271
- Do you sometimes
feel frustrated

1600
01:30:51,315 --> 01:30:53,883
that, you know all this,
it just goes so slow

1601
01:30:53,925 --> 01:30:55,754
and you're getting older?

1602
01:30:55,798 --> 01:30:57,277
- Yeah.
- Absolutely.

1603
01:30:57,539 --> 01:31:00,150
- Timescales are just so long
in nuclear and too slow.

1604
01:31:00,193 --> 01:31:01,978
We're doing everything we can
to change that.

1605
01:31:02,021 --> 01:31:03,501
I think another way
of looking at it,

1606
01:31:03,806 --> 01:31:06,025
if nuclear was just discovered,
like in the last 15 years,

1607
01:31:06,068 --> 01:31:07,636
people would have become a lot
more familiar with

1608
01:31:07,679 --> 01:31:08,985
and comfortable
with the technology

1609
01:31:09,028 --> 01:31:10,594
because then
once you understand it,

1610
01:31:10,639 --> 01:31:12,467
people have a better sense
of not being afraid

1611
01:31:12,510 --> 01:31:13,946
and they see the benefits.

1612
01:31:13,990 --> 01:31:15,773
We would probably have
a thousand nuclear power plants

1613
01:31:15,818 --> 01:31:16,688
built around the world.

1614
01:31:16,732 --> 01:31:17,602
[Narrator] That's a good point.

1615
01:31:18,995 --> 01:31:20,039
- One of the last
public speeches JFK even gave

1616
01:31:20,083 --> 01:31:22,041
was saying we need
to use fission

1617
01:31:22,085 --> 01:31:24,609
to help with conservation
and for clean power

1618
01:31:24,653 --> 01:31:26,393
for various reasons.
And it was overshadowed

1619
01:31:26,437 --> 01:31:27,307
by the weapons.

1620
01:31:28,395 --> 01:31:29,571
And I think
we're looking at it anew

1621
01:31:29,614 --> 01:31:30,920
because of the imperative
climate change.

1622
01:31:30,963 --> 01:31:33,052
- Younger people seem
more open to it.

1623
01:31:33,096 --> 01:31:35,751
- I think so, yeah.
- They're smarter.

1624
01:31:35,794 --> 01:31:37,579
- I think
for the younger generations,

1625
01:31:37,621 --> 01:31:39,406
climate change
is more of an imperative

1626
01:31:39,450 --> 01:31:41,452
than worrying about nuclear war.
[Narrator] Exactly, yeah.

1627
01:31:41,496 --> 01:31:43,846
Well Jake, Caroline,
I wish you all the freaking luck

1628
01:31:43,889 --> 01:31:45,325
in the world, I really do.
[Laughter]

1629
01:31:45,369 --> 01:31:46,936
Really, and the wind
at your back.

1630
01:31:46,978 --> 01:31:48,459
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

1631
01:31:48,503 --> 01:31:50,200
- Thank you, appreciate that.

1632
01:31:50,809 --> 01:31:52,898
[Narrator] If micro reactors
work the way Jake

1633
01:31:52,942 --> 01:31:53,943
and Caroline say,

1634
01:31:55,771 --> 01:31:59,035
the industry would gather
momentum quickly in the 2030s.

1635
01:31:59,077 --> 01:32:01,472
And it's not hard
to imagine micro reactors

1636
01:32:01,516 --> 01:32:05,781
in the future having the high
end cachet of a nuclear battery

1637
01:32:05,824 --> 01:32:08,392
buried away in the basement
of a smart home.

1638
01:32:08,434 --> 01:32:11,047
Putting out the power
to run lights, heat,

1639
01:32:11,090 --> 01:32:12,918
water purification,
as well as perhaps

1640
01:32:12,962 --> 01:32:17,139
a small hydroponic indoor farm,
all with zero emission.

1641
01:32:18,010 --> 01:32:20,839
And not much maintenance
required for twenty years,

1642
01:32:20,883 --> 01:32:23,233
after which the reactor
is replaced

1643
01:32:23,276 --> 01:32:24,930
with a fresh battery.

1644
01:32:28,020 --> 01:32:30,588
- When you have nuclear fission,

1645
01:32:30,632 --> 01:32:33,635
the primary output is heat.

1646
01:32:33,678 --> 01:32:35,375
Thermal energy.
[Narrator] Right.

1647
01:32:35,680 --> 01:32:38,987
- We typically convert
that to electricity.

1648
01:32:39,031 --> 01:32:42,469
We could use that heat
for water purification.

1649
01:32:42,513 --> 01:32:46,561
We might look at desalination
producing clean potable water

1650
01:32:46,603 --> 01:32:49,172
from seawater
or brackish groundwater.

1651
01:32:49,215 --> 01:32:51,827
Metals, refining,
fertilizer production,

1652
01:32:51,870 --> 01:32:53,568
cement production.

1653
01:32:53,611 --> 01:32:55,526
Those require a lot of heat.

1654
01:32:55,570 --> 01:32:57,702
[DeWitte] And that heat comes
off our reactors, for example,

1655
01:32:57,746 --> 01:32:59,878
almost for free because it's
heat that we can't

1656
01:32:59,922 --> 01:33:01,487
convert into electricity.

1657
01:33:01,532 --> 01:33:03,621
So instead of just dumping
it to the air,

1658
01:33:03,665 --> 01:33:05,449
we could use that
in district heating

1659
01:33:05,492 --> 01:33:07,451
or industrial heating
or different things like,

1660
01:33:07,494 --> 01:33:09,800
for example, heating a campus,
right, or heating a hospital

1661
01:33:09,844 --> 01:33:11,193
or heating
a big commercial district.

1662
01:33:11,541 --> 01:33:13,413
You could have reactors
heating the district heating

1663
01:33:13,457 --> 01:33:15,371
that we have in New York City
and it'd be completely clean.

1664
01:33:15,415 --> 01:33:17,766
[Bragg-Sitton] This is where
we're using high temperature

1665
01:33:17,809 --> 01:33:19,332
steam electrolysis.

1666
01:33:19,898 --> 01:33:23,815
That means simply
breaking down water molecules.

1667
01:33:23,859 --> 01:33:26,688
Hydrogen is a highly versatile
energy carrier

1668
01:33:26,731 --> 01:33:30,561
that can also be used
to produce synthetic fuels.

1669
01:33:30,605 --> 01:33:33,651
We take that hydrogen
from a clean process,

1670
01:33:33,956 --> 01:33:36,611
and we combine that
with carbon dioxide

1671
01:33:36,654 --> 01:33:39,875
that maybe has been captured
from a fossil plant,

1672
01:33:39,918 --> 01:33:42,398
an ethanol plant,
or even directly from the air.

1673
01:33:43,008 --> 01:33:44,923
And we can combine
that carbon dioxide

1674
01:33:44,967 --> 01:33:49,275
with the hydrogen to produce
liquid transportation fuels

1675
01:33:49,666 --> 01:33:51,321
that are clean burning.

1676
01:33:51,364 --> 01:33:53,410
[Narrator] To fly a plane?
- Yes.

1677
01:33:55,499 --> 01:33:59,459
So now we have a pathway of
using clean non emitting

1678
01:33:59,503 --> 01:34:03,898
nuclear energy
to produce hydrogen

1679
01:34:04,464 --> 01:34:07,554
that goes all the way
to liquid fuels for your car,

1680
01:34:07,598 --> 01:34:11,297
for heavy transport vehicles
or even aviation.

1681
01:34:12,255 --> 01:34:13,343
- Wow.

1682
01:34:15,084 --> 01:34:17,434
[Narrator] Shannon went on
to explain how hydrogen is

1683
01:34:17,477 --> 01:34:20,698
the beginning pathway
to many other solutions.

1684
01:34:25,094 --> 01:34:27,487
Scientists at the Idaho lab
are also working

1685
01:34:27,531 --> 01:34:30,186
on fusion energy,
an even more powerful way

1686
01:34:30,228 --> 01:34:32,884
of harnessing energy
from matter.

1687
01:34:35,757 --> 01:34:38,934
Fusion, which is created
when two lightweight atoms

1688
01:34:38,977 --> 01:34:40,978
are forced together,

1689
01:34:41,023 --> 01:34:44,026
can produce immense
amounts of energy.

1690
01:34:44,068 --> 01:34:46,724
It is the same process
that powers our sun.

1691
01:34:47,246 --> 01:34:49,684
Its fuel source,
hydrogen and lithium

1692
01:34:49,727 --> 01:34:50,946
are plentiful,

1693
01:34:52,599 --> 01:34:55,254
and after decades of research,
the goal is closer

1694
01:34:55,298 --> 01:34:56,778
but still elusive.

1695
01:34:57,735 --> 01:35:00,607
Several start ups think
they can reach commercial scale

1696
01:35:00,651 --> 01:35:03,785
fusion faster
and smaller within a decade,

1697
01:35:03,827 --> 01:35:06,264
and they've raised billions
of dollars in investment

1698
01:35:06,309 --> 01:35:07,702
in 2021.

1699
01:35:08,050 --> 01:35:11,967
If humanity ever makes
fusion practical

1700
01:35:12,358 --> 01:35:13,664
and economical,
it could power the world

1701
01:35:13,708 --> 01:35:14,621
of the future,

1702
01:35:16,188 --> 01:35:17,581
maybe even in the second half
of this century.

1703
01:35:20,627 --> 01:35:22,455
[Bragg-Sitton] Now,
we've done some really fantastic

1704
01:35:22,499 --> 01:35:24,457
development here at this site.

1705
01:35:24,501 --> 01:35:25,981
[Narrator] Are you moving fast
enough?

1706
01:35:26,590 --> 01:35:29,636
- Oh, I think that energy
in general,

1707
01:35:29,680 --> 01:35:31,160
we need to move faster.

1708
01:35:31,682 --> 01:35:33,639
Why do we do this?
We do this for our families.

1709
01:35:33,684 --> 01:35:35,904
We do this for our kids
and those generations.

1710
01:35:35,947 --> 01:35:38,602
It's so important that we look
to our energy resources

1711
01:35:38,645 --> 01:35:40,996
and use them wisely.

1712
01:35:41,866 --> 01:35:44,956
We're leaving a legacy,
and I hope it's a positive one.

1713
01:35:45,696 --> 01:35:47,871
[Narrator] As I left the lab,
it became clearer than ever

1714
01:35:47,916 --> 01:35:50,657
to me that to hit
the needed levels

1715
01:35:50,701 --> 01:35:53,791
of clean energy,
we need to think big.

1716
01:35:56,446 --> 01:35:58,273
Among other things,
we will shortly need

1717
01:35:58,317 --> 01:36:02,103
to stamp nuclear reactors
off assembly lines on the scale

1718
01:36:02,147 --> 01:36:06,151
of world jetliner production.

1719
01:36:06,195 --> 01:36:09,327
This would mean creating
a significant new worldwide

1720
01:36:09,371 --> 01:36:11,983
industry, redeploying hundreds
of thousands

1721
01:36:12,418 --> 01:36:14,594
of people of all skills.

1722
01:36:14,638 --> 01:36:18,032
It would mean in the first
years, 2020 to 2030,

1723
01:36:18,076 --> 01:36:21,123
building factories around
the world, then scaling up

1724
01:36:21,166 --> 01:36:24,996
in the middle years 2030
to 2040 as electrification

1725
01:36:25,040 --> 01:36:28,043
takes over across the world
and multiplies the demand

1726
01:36:28,085 --> 01:36:31,916
for electricity.
And then going all out

1727
01:36:31,960 --> 01:36:34,484
with everything we have in the
remaining years

1728
01:36:34,527 --> 01:36:36,529
of 2040 to 2050.

1729
01:36:39,271 --> 01:36:41,621
To do that,
we need to rekindle the spirit

1730
01:36:41,665 --> 01:36:44,842
of Hyman Rickover
with the urgency he had

1731
01:36:44,886 --> 01:36:47,410
to quickly build new things.

1732
01:36:52,763 --> 01:36:55,331
How much faster could
it go if we also imagine

1733
01:36:55,374 --> 01:36:58,464
a world where countries
cooperate to do this?

1734
01:36:59,030 --> 01:37:00,989
One partnership
here on Earth.

1735
01:37:01,032 --> 01:37:03,513
A United Nations
of clean energy.

1736
01:37:08,257 --> 01:37:11,173
No question the world
is changing and far faster

1737
01:37:11,216 --> 01:37:12,782
than I ever imagined.

1738
01:37:14,393 --> 01:37:15,916
The future is coming.

1739
01:37:16,308 --> 01:37:19,398
And I thought, wow,
as little as I know,

1740
01:37:19,442 --> 01:37:22,314
I know there's no real limit
to where clean energy

1741
01:37:22,358 --> 01:37:23,794
can take us.

1742
01:37:24,099 --> 01:37:25,927
[John F. Kennedy] But
the other part of conservation

1743
01:37:25,969 --> 01:37:27,232
is the newer part.

1744
01:37:27,537 --> 01:37:30,018
And that is to use science
and technology

1745
01:37:30,583 --> 01:37:32,803
to achieve
significant breakthroughs

1746
01:37:32,847 --> 01:37:34,892
as we are doing today,
and in that way,

1747
01:37:34,936 --> 01:37:38,460
to conserve the resources
which ten or 20 or 30 years ago

1748
01:37:38,504 --> 01:37:40,593
may have been wholly unknown.

1749
01:37:40,637 --> 01:37:44,859
So we use nuclear power
for peaceful purposes and power.

1750
01:37:49,298 --> 01:37:51,909
[Narrator] A formidable energy
gave birth to our planet

1751
01:37:51,952 --> 01:37:54,303
and that energy,
through centuries of war,

1752
01:37:54,346 --> 01:37:57,306
peace cataclysms, the price of
potatoes and stocks.

1753
01:37:58,742 --> 01:38:01,092
All the history, blunders,
tragic comedies,

1754
01:38:01,136 --> 01:38:03,007
and the occasional triumphs.

1755
01:38:04,574 --> 01:38:09,621
That energy E equals MC squared
was always there for us

1756
01:38:09,666 --> 01:38:10,972
all along.

1757
01:38:12,495 --> 01:38:14,366
And it's still there,
like an inner voice.

1758
01:38:14,410 --> 01:38:18,196
Our most faithful companion.

1759
01:38:18,240 --> 01:38:21,112
Why are we not using
that power?

1760
01:38:21,156 --> 01:38:23,723
If this buildout were to occur,
can we imagine a world

1761
01:38:23,767 --> 01:38:26,161
in which human beings
are not terrified

1762
01:38:26,204 --> 01:38:29,642
by climate change but are smart
and confident enough

1763
01:38:29,686 --> 01:38:30,861
to solve it?

1764
01:38:32,428 --> 01:38:35,779
Together, collectively,
we're combating viruses.

1765
01:38:35,822 --> 01:38:41,175
Exploring inner worlds,
oceans and fellow travelers.

1766
01:38:41,219 --> 01:38:44,527
We're traveling through space
and for that matter,

1767
01:38:44,570 --> 01:38:48,270
just building bullet trains,
housing,

1768
01:38:48,313 --> 01:38:53,188
deep underground tunnels
and giant aeropolises.

1769
01:38:53,492 --> 01:38:55,799
We can do most anything
with our mind.

1770
01:38:55,842 --> 01:38:59,629
Human ingenuity,
the workings of the mind

1771
01:38:59,672 --> 01:39:02,327
can get us out
of our climate predicament.

1772
01:39:02,371 --> 01:39:04,242
Unless we dull it with fear,

1773
01:39:04,503 --> 01:39:08,638
the mind is the most powerful
tool we know.

1774
01:39:08,681 --> 01:39:12,294
It is more imaginative than
any computer will ever be.

1775
01:39:14,469 --> 01:39:17,299
There is no force,
no energy that can contain

1776
01:39:17,342 --> 01:39:19,954
or stop human consciousness.

1777
01:39:25,655 --> 01:39:27,700
We may have come to a point
in time when Earth

1778
01:39:27,744 --> 01:39:28,963
is asking us,

1779
01:39:29,659 --> 01:39:31,139
do you know what you're doing?

1780
01:39:32,923 --> 01:39:35,447
And there's no going back
or forward from this moment.

1781
01:39:35,708 --> 01:39:38,320
Time stops now.

1782
01:39:38,362 --> 01:39:40,887
Or maybe
I'm being melodramatic,

1783
01:39:41,496 --> 01:39:43,107
but I think as a race,

1784
01:39:43,673 --> 01:39:45,414
we're more informed
and conscious

1785
01:39:45,457 --> 01:39:47,111
than we've ever been.

1786
01:39:47,155 --> 01:39:50,375
And many of us
are thinking the same thing.

1787
01:39:50,419 --> 01:39:52,987
We're thinking not just
about ourselves,

1788
01:39:53,030 --> 01:39:55,293
but of the entire world
as we know it

1789
01:39:55,337 --> 01:39:57,252
and how we can fix it.

1790
01:39:57,295 --> 01:39:59,297
And that's a hell of a lot
of consciousness for many,

1791
01:39:59,341 --> 01:40:00,472
many people.

1792
01:40:02,126 --> 01:40:04,215
And for that reason,
let's make something of it.

1793
01:40:05,608 --> 01:40:08,959
If we human beings can get
this right,

1794
01:40:09,003 --> 01:40:13,485
if we can create clean
electricity fast enough

1795
01:40:13,529 --> 01:40:16,053
to decarbonize the world
and we can.

1796
01:40:16,097 --> 01:40:18,142
The effects would
be incredible.

1797
01:40:18,186 --> 01:40:19,535
People would know.

1798
01:40:21,232 --> 01:40:22,755
They would sense the changes
right away and it would

1799
01:40:22,799 --> 01:40:24,148
energize the world anew.

1800
01:40:26,411 --> 01:40:28,761
Imagine that.

1801
01:40:28,805 --> 01:40:33,244
Imagine that there is a
tomorrow and it can be better.

1802
01:40:33,288 --> 01:40:35,246
If we overcome our fears
and embrace

1803
01:40:35,290 --> 01:40:38,728
the primordial star power
in the nucleus of the atom,

1804
01:40:39,337 --> 01:40:40,904
and in doing so,

1805
01:40:42,645 --> 01:40:47,302
give us all, all living beings
what is our birthright.

1806
01:40:47,344 --> 01:40:50,087
A future
that we can look forward to.

1807
01:40:58,617 --> 01:41:00,837
[Stephen Hawking] We are all
time travelers.

1808
01:41:00,880 --> 01:41:03,187
Turning together
into the future.

1809
01:41:05,450 --> 01:41:08,627
But let us work together
to make that future

1810
01:41:08,671 --> 01:41:10,760
a place we want to visit.

1811
01:41:10,803 --> 01:41:14,719
Be brave, Be determined.
Overcome the odds.

1812
01:41:16,853 --> 01:41:18,159
It can be done.

1813
01:41:55,544 --> 01:41:56,980
It can be done.