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