Energy utopia or dystopia? - A historical perspective on nuclear energy

For the past decade nuclear energy has been increasingly promoted
as a carbon neutral source of energy. The Japanese Tsunami of
March 2011 threw a spanner in the works when the Fukushima One
nuclear power plant was flooded destroying its cooling system.
The accident highlighted the potential hidden risks of nuclear
technologies and fuelled fear of radiation and contamination of
the environment with nuclear materials among the general public.
Considering past nuclear incidents it is doubtful if the
Fukushima emergency will prevent the construction nuclear plants
in the long run. On this episode of the podcast Horace Herring of
the Open University in Britain will explore the utopian origins
of nuclear energy and how it became a dystopian illusion. He
argues that economics and distrust in science and big government
undermined nuclear energy more than environmental or health
concerns.


Music credit: LOVELESS by Caster Seven, available from ccMixter.