The Nature of Things

Nuclear Power: The Hot Debate (28x6)

: 25, 1987

The long-term effects of fall-out from Chernobyl are still being debated. The pros and cons of nuclear power have been hotly debated for the past decade, but the shock waves of the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have brought that debate to a boil. This episode looks at that debate. How safe are reactors and waste disposal? What about uranium mining, weapons proliferation, and the economics? How safe is nuclear energy and what are the alternatives?