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Kurzgesagt Nuclear Energy (How does nuclear energy works (Heats up water…
Kurzgesagt Nuclear Energy
Why we should stop using nuclear energy
Nuclear weapon proliferation
Intimately connected with weapons technology
Hard to distinguish cover nuclear weapon program with peaceful use of nuclear energy
Nuclear waste and polution
Radioactive
Loses it's harmfulness on tenth of thousands of years
We can't find a place to bury it for long enough
Contains poisonous elements
Accidents and disasters
7 major accidents in 60 years of nuclear usage
3 contained
4 released significant amounts of radioactivity in the environment
Thousands of deaths
Why we should continue using nuclear energy
Nuclear energy saves lives
Prevented 1.8 millions deaths (Nasa study)
Nuclear energy ranks last in deaths per energy unit produced
Nuclear waste is stored while toxic byproducts of fossil fuels are pumped into the air we breathe
Nuclear accidents burn into our memory while coal and oil kill silently
Nuclear energy reduces CO2
Way less harmful to the environment in term of climate change than fossil fuels
We can't switch to green energy in a short time and nuclear is relatively clean
New technology
Nuclear innovation stopped so our reactors are mostly outdated
The Thorium reactor could solve most of our problems
Thorium is abundant
Hard to turn into weapons
Less wasteful than current reactors
Waste material is dangerous for "only" a few hundred years
Provides way more energy per ton than uranium or coal
How does nuclear energy works
Started in the 1940's
The "light water reactor" became the most popular
Heats up water using an artificial chain reaction
Heavy elements (like U235) get bombared with neutrons
Split U235 in lighter elements, new neutrons and energy
Radiation heats the water
Water is used to moderate the reaction
Neutrons repeat the process
Water drives a turbine
Today it produces around 10% of our energy demands