What if We Used Nuclear Energy as Our Only Fuel Source?

WHAT IF

Transcript

00:00 (music playing)

00:09 Take a look at the two most popular

00:12 energy sources around the world.

00:14 Oil,

00:15 coal,

00:16 dirty,

00:17 scary.

00:19 By some estimates,

00:20 fossil fuels kill more people every year

00:23 than wars,

00:24 murders,

00:25 and traffic accidents,

00:27 combined.

00:28 But this scares us more.

00:31 A fuel source that's renewable,

00:33 reliable,

00:34 and that's got the power to save lives.

00:38 This is WHAT IF,

00:40 and here's what would happen

00:41 if nuclear power was our only fuel source.

00:45 There are a few different types of nuclear reactors,

00:47 but they all generally work the same way.

00:50 Nuclear energy is produced by a chain reaction

00:53 that involves splitting atoms to generate heat,

00:56 which creates steam,

00:57 that turns a generator to produce electricity.

01:00 Now while it sounds pretty straightforward,

01:03 committing exclusively to nuclear power

01:05 is easier said than done.

01:08 You see,

01:08 its innumerable benefits are overshadowed by budget,

01:12 and a few bad memories.

01:14 (music playing)

01:17 Just thinking about an event like the Chernobyl disaster

01:20 will have most people saying no to nuclear.

01:23 After all,

01:24 a nuclear meltdown has consequences

01:27 that tend to be both devastating and long-lasting.

01:30 But as far as the history of commercial nuclear power goes,

01:34 there have only been three large-scale meltdowns.

01:37 The fact is,

01:38 by relying solely on nuclear power,

01:40 we'd actually save millions of lives every year.

01:44 The World Health Organization

01:45 estimates that 3 million people die each year

01:48 from fossil fuel air pollution.

01:51 Coal plants, for example,

01:52 release particles in the air

01:54 that cause heart disease,

01:55 cancer,

01:56 respiratory illnesses,

01:57 and strokes.

01:59 Coincidentally,

02:00 those happen to be the four leading causes of death

02:02 in the United States.

02:04 But if the amount of lives that could be saved

02:06 has already convinced you that we need more nuclear power,

02:09 you're going to have to wait a while.

02:11 Because even if we were to commit to 100% renewable energy today,

02:16 it would take about 40 years to fully implement that change.

02:20 In that time,

02:21 who knows what our world would look like.

02:23 Well,

02:24 let's just say that without nuclear power,

02:26 it would look a lot worse.

02:28 That's because nuclear energy

02:29 doesn't produce greenhouse gases.

02:32 And if we increased our reliance on it,

02:34 we could prevent further pollutants from heating up our planet.

02:37 In 2011,

02:39 the World Nuclear Association calculated that

02:41 coal,

02:42 oil,

02:42 and natural gas sources

02:44 accounted for roughly 5.5 million tons

02:47 of additional carbon dioxide emissions

02:49 that would have been avoided with nuclear alternatives.

02:52 Unfortunately,

02:53 many remain unconvinced

02:55 that savings in CO2 emissions

02:57 justify nuclear's high cost.

02:59 While China and Russia are expanding their nuclear operations

03:02 with heavy government support,

03:04 other countries are pulling back,

03:06 citing unfeasibility

03:08 and public distrust

03:09 from the recent Fukushima disaster.

03:12 France is a poignant example.

03:14 Although 75% of its electricity comes from nuclear power,

03:18 France aims to reduce it to 50% by 2025.

03:22 This sounds like a setback,

03:23 but it's not all bad news.

03:26 Yes, nuclear power is an expensive fuel source,

03:29 but in recent years,

03:30 other renewables like wind and solar

03:32 have grown cheaper and more efficient.

03:35 Right now,

03:36 nuclear energy produces 20% of the United States' electricity,

03:40 with renewables catching up at 13%.

03:43 Even in the nuclear industry,

03:45 some speculate that

03:46 other renewables should be used to produce electricity,

03:49 so that the high-grade uranium

03:50 that's often used for nuclear fission

03:53 could be better used to power other technologies,

03:55 like interplanetary spaceships.

03:58 But that's just speculation.

04:00 The potential of nuclear power is huge,

04:03 from saving millions of lives

04:05 to our entire planet.

04:06 But can we have our cake and eat it too?

04:09 Can we let other renewables do the saving

04:11 while nuclear fission propels us forward?

04:14 Who knows where it will take us,

04:16 but interplanetary travel?

04:19 That's a story for another WHAT IF.

04:22 ♪ ♪

04:26 ♪ ♪

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04:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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