The Nuclear Comeback

New Zealand 2007 / 75min. English, Swedish, Russian with English subtitles.
Director Justin Pemberton / Producer Megan Jones, Justin Pemberton

It’s scary. It’s expensive. But could it save the earth?

In a world living in fear of climate change, the nuclear industry claims to have a solution — nuclear power generation produces zero carbon emissions, and with the world’s electricity consumption expected to double in the next 25 years, people are listening.

We are witnessing a global nuclear renaissance, with 27 nuclear power stations under construction, and projections for another 136 within a decade.

"We have absolutely no choice. We need to turn to nuclear energy because it is both clean, safe and abundant enough to ensure the survival of our civilisation," says Bruno Comby of Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy.

However, many people have an inherent fear of things nuclear, especially in New Zealand – being nuclear-free is part of our heritage. But is it time we learnt to love the split atom? Or might we be jumping out of the carbon frying pan, into the plutonium fire?

The Nuclear Comeback goes on a worldwide tour of the nuclear industry in search of answers. It visits some of the planet’s most famous nuclear facilities including the Chernobyl control room, a uranium mine in Australia, "the grand old lady" of commercial nuclear power – the UK’s Calder Hall, and a nuclear waste repository under the Baltic Sea.

Despite nuclear power’s claimed environmental merits, detractors say that it is producing a 100,000-year legacy of radioactive waste for which there is no permanent storage; that the power stations are terrorist targets; and that the industry has a reputation for accidents, cover-ups, and links to nuclear weapons production..

But the nuclear power question is not only for us to decide – demand for nuclear power is most dramatic in developing countries, and is projected to increase. The Nuclear Comeback makes for scary viewing, but is an essential response to a question for our time.

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This documentary was made available with the kind support of TVNZ.