EVST 255: Environmental Politics and Law
Lecture 22 - Past and Future of Nuclear Power. The lecture begins a discussion of present and future energy demands and the ways in which we invest in different forms of energy by focusing on nuclear energy use globally.
The risks associated with nuclear energy are described, including risk of human error leading to a mass evacuation event, and the challenges faced in finding an adequate nuclear waste storage facility for the United States.
Such a facility would be need to be able to store nuclear waste for a million years or more, due to the long half-lives of nuclear waste. The lecture describes the disaster that took place at Chernobyl nuclear plant, and the wide-ranging
effects of that disaster on the natural and built environments as well as human health.
(from oyc.yale.edu)
| Lecture 22 - Past and Future of Nuclear Power |
| Time | Lecture Chapters |
| [00:00:00] | 1. The Nuclear Industry by the Numbers |
| [00:05:37] | 2. Nuclear Energy's Legal and Regulatory Structures |
| [00:16:02] | 3. Nuclear Obstacles: Storage and Proliferation |
| [00:24:27] | 4. Chernobyl and Its Aftermath |
| [00:43:13] | 5. Relative Risks from Coal-Fired Plants |
| References |
| Lecture 22 - Past and Future of Nuclear Power Instructor: Professor John Wargo. Resources: Lecture 22 [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov]. |
Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures: