How green is nuclear energy? - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute

English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.  

And I'm Sam. With winter here, the rising

price of oil and natural gas

has become a hot topic. At the same time, climate

change is also reaching

emergency levels, and world

leaders are looking for ways to

reduce our consumption of

fossil fuels. Some think

the best option is

renewables - types of natural

energy, such as wind and

solar power, which can be

replaced as quickly as

they are used. Others prefer a return to

nuclear energy, arguing that

it's clean, green and more

reliable that renewables.

But after infamous nuclear

disasters like those at

Chernobyl and Fukushima,

questions about its

safety remain. In this programme, we'll

be finding out how green

nuclear power is by asking:

when it comes to the climate,

is nuclear a friend or foe? But before that, Sam, it's

time for my quiz question.

Many of the nuclear power

stations built since the

1960s are reaching the end

of their planned life, and

not everyone thinks they

should be replaced.

In 2011, one country

announced that it would

phase out - meaning

gradually stop using - nuclear

power altogether.

But which country?

Was it: a) Germany

b) India or c) Brazil? I'll go with a) Germany.  

OK, Sam. We'll reveal the

correct answer later

in the programme. As Neil mentioned, whatever

the advantages of nuclear

power for the climate,

many members of the public

have concerns about

nuclear safety. Probably the most

well-known nuclear accident

happened on the 26th of

April 1986 at the

Chernobyl nuclear power

plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dutch journalist Mirjam Vossen

reflects on what happened

with BBC World Service

programme, The Real Story. The perceptions of nuclear

energy of, I think, a whole

generation have been shaped

by high impact events,

most notably the Chernobyl

disaster... including myself.

I have vivid memories of how

the media reported on this

event and how scary it was

and how frightened everyone

was of the radioactive

clouds drifting from the

Ukraine towards Europe.

So, this is, sort of,

ingrained in people's minds,

and for many it hasn't

been - really been updated. It was a frightening time,

and Mirjam says she has

vivid memories - memories

that produce powerful

feelings and strong,

clear images in the mind. The accident in Chernobyl

changed many people's opinions

of nuclear power in a

negative way, and these

opinions became ingrained -

strongly held and difficult

to change. But Mirjam

believes these ingrained

public perceptions of nuclear

safety are out-of-date.

She argues that such

accidents caused by human

error could not happen

in the modern nuclear

power stations used today. What's more, nuclear creates

a steady supply

of power - unlike

renewables, which don't make

electricity when the wind

doesn't blow, or the Sun

doesn't shine. So maybe nuclear power is

the greenest way of generating

energy without fossil fuels. Well, not according to

Energy Institute researcher

Paul Dorfman. Nuclear power

stations are located near

seas or large lakes because

they need water to cool down.

Paul thinks that soon rising

seas levels will mean the

end of nuclear as a

realistic energy option. He thinks money invested in

nuclear upgrades would be

better spent making clean

renewables more reliable

instead, as he explained to

BBC World Service programme,

The Real Story. I think the key takeaway

is that nuclear's low

carbon electricity unique

selling point kind of

sits in the context of

a much larger picture

that nuclear will be one

of the first and most

significant casualties

to ramping climate change.

So, nuclear's quite

literally on the front

line of climate change

and not in a good way - that's

because far from helping

with our climate change

problems, it'll add to it. One advantage of nuclear power

is that it produces electricity

using little carbon.

Paul Dorfman calls this

its unique selling point. A unique selling point,

which is sometimes

shortened to 'USP', is a

common way to describe

the feature of something

that makes it different

from and better than

its competitors. But that doesn't change

the fact that rising

sea levels would make

nuclear an unrealistic,

even dangerous, choice.

This is why he calls nuclear

power a casualty of climate

change, meaning a victim,

or something that suffers

as a result of something

else happening. This also explains why some

countries are now turning away

from nuclear power towards

more renewable energy

sources - countries

such as... well, what was

the answer to your

quiz question, Neil? I asked Sam which country

decided to gradually stop

using nuclear power.  

I said a) Germany. Which was the correct answer!

In fact, around 70% of

Germany's electricity now

comes from renewables. OK, Neil, let's recap the

rest of the vocabulary

from this programme, starting

with to phase something out,

meaning to gradually

stop using something. Vivid memories are memories

that produce powerful feelings

and strong mental images. Opinions and beliefs

which are ingrained are

so strongly held that

they are difficult

to change. Something's unique selling

point, or USP, is the

feature that makes it

different from and better

than its competitors. And finally, a casualty

is a person or thing that

suffers as a result of

something else happening. That's all for this look

into nuclear and

renewable energy.  

Bye for now! Goodbye!