Nuclear Power Was Supposed to Solve Climate Change… What Happened? | Hot Mess 🌎

Peril & Promise is a public media initiative from WNET telling human stories of climate change and its solutions.

Splitting the atom once promised to be the carbon-free energy source of the future. But today, nuclear power plants are aging and retiring worldwide. What happened?

Hot Mess T-shirts!:

-----------

Host/Writer: Miriam Nielsen
Creative Director: David Schulte
Editors/Animators: Karl Boettcher & Derek Borsheim
Producers: Stephanie Noone & Amanda Fox
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Hanson
Story Editor: Alex Reich

-----------

Produced by PBS Digital Studios
Theme Music: Eric Friend/Optical Audio
Music: APM

[BeCurieUs]

Video actually makes me tear up a bit. Future nuclear engineer here and it is nice to be spun in a positive light for environmental things for a change. Nuclear has challenges, no doubt, and as an engineer I will be committed to taking them on, but often times they are overstated or told in a vacuum when other technologies struggle in the same way or worse. Once again, thank you for this controversial topic in a sea of an already controversial topic :D

[HotMessPBS]

Hey folks, a previous version of this video contained a small error, and this is a *corrected version* . To be clear, the error had nothing to do with nuclear energy, but rather a few seconds of background visual information about other power sources. The story is the same. We are committed to 100% accuracy at every level, and believe in full transparency. Thanks for your support, and for watching the video all over again 🙂

[Psyadin]

Maybe point out that with the current regulations in most countries, nuclear power isn't very profitable either, and also that there are some other nuclear technologies, like salt reactors and thorium rods which lets you burn a lot of the waste from normal plants, and plants with these technologies are already operating.

[Lugmillord]

I have to admit that reading through the comments, especially reading the arguments of the pro-nuclear side, has changed my view on the topic. I realized, that I have fallen prey to irrational fear and the media focusing on immediate negative events. Well, it's only human to do that (sadly). Yes, nuclear power has its fair share of issues, but when comparing it to other energy sources, the problems are much larger with coal and gas. Even when looking at the far future. You sometimes just have to trust the numbers even when they are against your personal bias. I'm still not pro nuclear by any means, but the arguments made by Christopher Willis, Ayyy and others definitely reduced my fears.
Edit: Well, I kinda am pro-nuclear as a transitional solution now. But there's no chance that's going to happen in my country sadly. We are so far behind our goals. -.-

[factsverse]

Wait, Coal produced 24.62 deaths per TWh? That is really sad. That's about a death per 39 GWh and 1 kWh = $0.12. Or $120/MWh. It means $120, 000/GWh × 39 = $4, 680, 000 *in revenue per death* and that sounds dark.

[Azivegu]

Well, I guess I'll like the video a second time xD

[Ryukachoo]

Reminder that modern reactor designs are stupidly safe and the dangerous ones are the long aging ones.
Also we have waste storage; it's yucca mountain, which is blocked by people who don't know how radiation works or barely passed chemistry in high school

[MoraMadness]

So instead of getting rid of nuclear power. We should increase it, to buy ourselves more time to build other methods of generating power without destroying the planet.

[RodLandaeta]

Hey guys, just writing to tell you that I love this channel. My wife and I are big followers of sustainable development and it is amazing to find all the different nasty developments on the subject of energy. In any case, love the channel. Keep it up.

[melissayes]

i am very relieved about the correction even if i don't known what it was lol Thank you guys!

[KatrinaEames]

You're killing it Miriam! It being your performance, not the industry of nuclear power .

[marekspot]

Point is - coal powerplants should be closed first because they harm much more than nuclear ones. There´s radioactive residue in coal is too yet not many people know about it. Yes, nuclear waste is a problem (though see 3, 5th and 4th generation nuclear plants in development which use this waste as fuel) but bigger one is the climate change. Solar, wind and biomass powerplants won´t have sufficient output anytime soon...

[mariacobretti]

I'm working as a software developer in a company providing solutions in the worlds of renewable energy so I naturally really like this channel. As for the topic.. The nuclear waste that comes from fission reactors is a huge problem as you stated but I still think people overlook that too often. That said I strongly believe that fusion is going to be a key source for our future energy production as there is basically no risk for catastrophes and the waste is only radio active for some hundred years instead of millioins. Can't wait for you to get to the Tokamak reactor. The one from the Max Planck in Munich recently released good news on the development.

[ArgoIo]

Actually, one reason Germany is phasing out of nuclear energy is part of the expansion of renewable energy production. Nuclear power plants and older generations of coal plants just aren't able to adapt to the fluctuations in the grid. Those plants are struggeling to make profits during daytime when cheaper solar and wind energy are floading the market.

[macbev]

If "carbon-free power generation doesn't operate on big scales, " it is only the fault of big industry which doesn't want to give up control and profits. Nuclear is an exceedingly dangerous technology, and those pesky waste products are not only dangerous for a very very long time, but can be concentrated to make nuclear weapons. It is shameful to try to make nuclear look safe and clean. We can generate our own power with rooftop solar and wind. We can use less energy in many ways - flying less, converting to electric, building our towns and cities to make it easier to get to work and shop without driving. We can eat more plant-based - and grow our own plants! I am growing a lot on a city parcel - plenty of fruits and vegetables, and since I don't eat animal products, which are extremely power- and water-intensive, I don't need to buy much.
What happens if a missile hits a nuclear power plant? Who wants to find out? And it will take more than some nuclear power plants to halt climate change, since the accumulation of carbon AND methane is not only due to transportation etc. We need to change the way we live.

[macronencer]

This video is a good resource, thanks! There was only one thing I think you didn't cover: one of the reasons for opposition to nuclear power is the long time scales of designing and building, then decommissioning, plants - as compared with the actual lifetime over which they operate. In other words, it's not 'temporally flexible'. I've heard people criticise nuclear on that basis, but you didn't seem to address it here. Do you have any comments about that?

[wyndhamcoffman]

I am kind of torn on this issue. I do believe it is absolutely necessary to close all the coal plants; prohibiting them completely, or instituting carbon cap-and-trade.
However I feel that the nuclear reactors that were built in the 70s( which is most of them in the US) should either be decommissioned, or retrofitted with newer safety appliances to make them passively safe.
Although I think Japan had the right idea; after Fukushima they came out with new designs; including smaller reactors that, are sprung into the vaults to protect from earthquakes; and a larger coolant Supply, which will convect heat away in the event of a power loss. (Which seems like a design flaw to me; that most power plants require electricity to generate electricity, and run the coolant pump.)
However I'm sure a lot of these problems could be solved in new reactor designs; and an analysis of every possible risk that could potentially be fall a nuclear reactor.

[Katraan]

That awkward moment when libertarians and conservationists join forces because of nuclear, wow, how the tables have turned
I like this

[Veeeee.]

My new favourite youtube channel for sure

[Ryukachoo]

Liquid fluoride thorium reactor.
Ideally; two fluid breeder design
More realistic: once-through burner design with reprocessing