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!