Introduction to Nuclear – Video

Transcript:

[Dr. Scott W. Tinker] Nuclear is more powerful than any other energy source, and that means it’s hard to handle. Nuclear makes about 20% of the electricity in the US, 80% in France, and a smaller amount in most other developed countries, with zero emissions. That’s steam coming out of the cooling tower, water is evaporated to cool the plant. And compared to the huge amount of electricity it produces, the fuel costs almost nothing. That’s because nuclear fuel is incredibly powerful. One uranium pellet weighs a quarter of an ounce. That’s equivalent to one ton of coal. In other words, 128 thousand times more powerful. And when the fuel is no longer strong enough to make electricity, it still has a huge amount of energy in it, which means it’s hot, and it’s radioactive. Handling this spent fuel is a major challenge of nuclear, and we discuss that in another video. Another challenge is proliferation. Could terrorists turn this waste into a bomb? It’s hard to handle, closely guarded, not pure enough, and the technology is complex. The chances are slim. What about a nuclear accident? In 50 years, we’ve had three worldwide. But only one has had radiation fatalities. The dangers are real, but compared to all other electricity sources, nuclear power has a superior safety record. So what’s the biggest challenge for nuclear? Cost. To contain all that energy, the plants must be incredibly robust. They’re much more expensive than, say, a natural gas plant. And people are still afraid of it. That means public opposition, lawsuits, more time, and more expense to build a plant. So nuclear energy is incredibly powerful, and very cheap, while building nuclear plants is very difficult and expensive. So what will be the future of nuclear, then?