The race to reduce emissions has more and more nations reaching for the nuclear option. Nuclear power plants are being built around the world, generating carbon-free electricity day and night, windy or calm. But they also generate radioactive waste, some of which can remain deadly for thousands of years. Thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste currently sit in “temporary” sites, some decades old. This has been fuel to critics who have described nuclear power as a scourge for future generations. No country yet has a permanent solution to the problem.
Now, almost 70 years after the first nuclear plant, Finland is set to change that. Engineers have been creating a giant cavern they say will become the world’s first permanent nuclear waste disposal site. Can it silence the critics or are we just passing on the problem to future generations?
Presenters Graihagh Jackson and Neal Razzell spoke to: Professor Michael Bluck, director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College, London. Dr Leslie Dewan Nuclear Engineer, CEO and co-founder of Radiant Nano Nuclear Security Company. Shaun Burnie Nuclear specialist with Greenpeace East Asia
Reporter: Ilpo Salonen, Finland Producer: Lizzy McNeill, Jordan Dunbar Researcher: Natasha Fernandes Series Producer: Alex Lewis Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross, Siobhan Reed Sound engineer: Tom Brignall
Is lab-grown meat better for the planet?
Your questions answered: Climate change for kids, solar power, music for plants
What does China's green tech revolution mean for the world?
Can we build better cities for mental health and the climate?
Can we save money and save the planet?
What is caused (and not caused) by climate change?
Bonus Ep: the climate activists who sued their government (and won)
Can we save the world's coral?
Can fertilisers go green?
Why are electric scooters, mopeds and rickshaws booming?
How is climate change affecting animal migration?
How does extreme heat affect pregnant women?
Your questions answered: Reversing climate change, eating avocados, electric vehicles and more
What's it like living a "sustainable" life?
What's it like being a 'Chief Heat Officer'?
Could solar farms in space power Earth?
Do we need a 'Category 6' for hurricanes?
Why is nuclear power back in fashion?
Are wetlands our secret weapon for fighting climate change?
Why is climate change fuelling tension in the Arctic?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
As the Season Turns
National Trust Podcast
BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast
Emergence Magazine Podcast
A Life More Wild