1 00:00:01,502 --> 00:00:03,068 [ Woman chanting ] 2 00:00:03,104 --> 00:00:07,172 -MULLER: Legends say there's a world beneath this one, 3 00:00:07,208 --> 00:00:10,009 where a dragon lies sleeping. 4 00:00:10,044 --> 00:00:13,545 They say, "Be careful how you wake the dragon." 5 00:00:19,620 --> 00:00:22,755 Around the turn of the 20th century, 6 00:00:22,790 --> 00:00:25,124 uranium is almost unknown. 7 00:00:25,159 --> 00:00:27,393 It is basically worthless. 8 00:00:27,428 --> 00:00:30,129 But then in 40 years, just a single generation, 9 00:00:30,164 --> 00:00:35,167 it becomes the most desirable and terrifying rock on Earth. 10 00:00:35,202 --> 00:00:38,971 This is uranium. 11 00:00:39,006 --> 00:00:40,339 And as a physicist, I'm fascinated 12 00:00:40,374 --> 00:00:42,708 by its unique scientific properties, 13 00:00:42,743 --> 00:00:45,811 but even more so by how this one rock 14 00:00:45,846 --> 00:00:49,948 has shaped the entire modern world. 15 00:00:49,984 --> 00:00:53,185 Uranium changes everything. 16 00:00:54,488 --> 00:00:57,656 In our last episode, we discovered how uranium 17 00:00:57,691 --> 00:01:01,126 is forged in the explosion of a star. 18 00:01:01,162 --> 00:01:04,830 Uranium is a shape shifter. 19 00:01:04,865 --> 00:01:07,399 It transforms itself. 20 00:01:07,435 --> 00:01:11,303 A lump of uranium will do this all by itself. 21 00:01:11,338 --> 00:01:12,538 We learned how to release 22 00:01:12,573 --> 00:01:15,741 the incredible energy inside uranium. 23 00:01:15,776 --> 00:01:20,746 A little bit of mass can be converted into a lot of energy. 24 00:01:20,781 --> 00:01:23,449 We took a rock, and we made a bomb. 25 00:01:23,484 --> 00:01:26,518 On July 16, 1945, 26 00:01:26,554 --> 00:01:30,756 at exactly 5:29:45 in the morning, 27 00:01:30,791 --> 00:01:34,660 the dragon roars. 28 00:01:40,801 --> 00:01:45,737 Now come with me on a journey into the atomic age... 29 00:01:45,773 --> 00:01:48,907 This is a nuclear reactor. 30 00:01:48,943 --> 00:01:53,479 ...an age of promise and fear, 31 00:01:53,514 --> 00:01:58,016 where uranium offers a dream of clean, limitless power 32 00:01:58,052 --> 00:02:01,353 or a nightmare of a silent and poisoned Earth. 33 00:02:01,388 --> 00:02:04,790 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 34 00:02:06,794 --> 00:02:10,929 This is the story of how a rock changed the world. 35 00:02:16,137 --> 00:02:18,237 "Uranium: Twisting the Dragon's Tail" 36 00:02:18,272 --> 00:02:20,472 is made possible in part by contributions to your 37 00:02:20,508 --> 00:02:21,840 PBS station from viewers like you... 38 00:02:21,876 --> 00:02:22,875 Thank you. 39 00:02:23,477 --> 00:02:27,546 [ Explosion ] 40 00:02:30,317 --> 00:02:35,053 In 1945, America is at war with Japan. 41 00:02:35,089 --> 00:02:40,459 The Americans drop a uranium bomb on the city of Hiroshima. 42 00:02:40,494 --> 00:02:46,064 It explodes like the fiery breath of a dragon. 43 00:02:53,574 --> 00:02:57,176 And then, three days after Hiroshima, 44 00:02:57,211 --> 00:03:00,279 another bomb is dropped 45 00:03:00,314 --> 00:03:02,981 on the city of Nagasaki. 46 00:03:10,591 --> 00:03:15,928 To look at these pictures is to see the paradox of uranium. 47 00:03:15,963 --> 00:03:21,300 The two atomic bombs have killed at least 100,000 people, 48 00:03:21,335 --> 00:03:27,072 but a war that killed tens of millions has ended. 49 00:03:27,107 --> 00:03:29,174 These people don't know it, 50 00:03:29,210 --> 00:03:32,945 but they're dancing the old world away. 51 00:03:32,980 --> 00:03:35,013 Tomorrow will be different. 52 00:03:35,049 --> 00:03:38,450 Uranium has brought us a new age. 53 00:03:41,689 --> 00:03:44,223 -NARRATOR: The atomic age was born. 54 00:03:44,258 --> 00:03:46,592 There is no denying that since that moment, 55 00:03:46,627 --> 00:03:51,597 the shadow of the atom bomb has been across all our lives. 56 00:03:51,632 --> 00:03:55,000 Wisdom demands that we take time to understand this force 57 00:03:55,035 --> 00:03:57,903 because here, in fact, is the answer 58 00:03:57,938 --> 00:04:00,772 to a dream as old as man himself, 59 00:04:00,808 --> 00:04:05,177 a giant of limitless power at man's command. 60 00:04:05,212 --> 00:04:07,746 -Despite the rubble of Hiroshima, 61 00:04:07,781 --> 00:04:11,149 uranium promised a new age. 62 00:04:11,185 --> 00:04:13,585 Its potential was clear. 63 00:04:13,621 --> 00:04:17,589 The atomic fire that destroyed a city could be controlled. 64 00:04:17,625 --> 00:04:21,193 We could harness the nuclear dragon. 65 00:04:21,228 --> 00:04:25,430 No longer would we get our energy from burning coal or oil. 66 00:04:25,466 --> 00:04:28,166 Instead, we would get it from manipulating 67 00:04:28,202 --> 00:04:30,802 the fundamental particles of the universe, 68 00:04:30,838 --> 00:04:33,772 from within the atom. 69 00:04:33,807 --> 00:04:35,474 The future of the world, 70 00:04:35,509 --> 00:04:37,643 a brand-new age, 71 00:04:37,678 --> 00:04:40,279 would be atomic. 72 00:04:40,314 --> 00:04:45,651 -NARRATOR: Today we are reaching into the core of nature itself 73 00:04:45,686 --> 00:04:48,687 for a source of energy so great 74 00:04:48,722 --> 00:04:51,790 that one ounce of matter can yield enough energy 75 00:04:51,825 --> 00:04:57,262 to light this 100-watt bulb for one million years. 76 00:04:57,298 --> 00:05:00,799 -MULLER: Uranium promised a new world 77 00:05:00,834 --> 00:05:04,136 where everything would be perfect. 78 00:05:04,171 --> 00:05:09,174 -Â♪ Push a button, turn a dial Â♪ 79 00:05:09,209 --> 00:05:13,211 Â♪ Your work is done for miles and miles Â♪ 80 00:05:13,247 --> 00:05:15,514 Â♪ When it hits, it's bound to shake Â♪ 81 00:05:15,549 --> 00:05:21,720 Â♪ Because it feels just like an earthquake Â♪ 82 00:05:21,755 --> 00:05:25,290 -MULLER: Uranium would take us into a dreamy future 83 00:05:25,326 --> 00:05:27,993 of limitless energy. 84 00:05:28,028 --> 00:05:30,495 -Â♪ It'll send you through the sky Â♪ 85 00:05:30,531 --> 00:05:33,432 -MULLER: But that future would come at a cost. 86 00:05:33,467 --> 00:05:36,568 -Â♪ Atomic cocktail Â♪ 87 00:05:42,009 --> 00:05:44,276 -MULLER: After the war, the United States 88 00:05:44,311 --> 00:05:48,046 is the only country to possess the secret of the atom bomb. 89 00:05:48,082 --> 00:05:51,583 It's an exclusive club of just one member. 90 00:05:51,618 --> 00:05:54,653 But that's about to change. 91 00:05:57,624 --> 00:06:02,361 In 1949, Soviet Russia tests an atomic bomb. 92 00:06:08,302 --> 00:06:09,568 Two superpowers -- 93 00:06:09,603 --> 00:06:12,404 Russian communism and western democracy -- 94 00:06:12,439 --> 00:06:15,173 face off against each other. 95 00:06:17,010 --> 00:06:19,010 -MAN: President Truman's dramatic announcement 96 00:06:19,046 --> 00:06:20,479 that Russia had the atom secret 97 00:06:20,514 --> 00:06:24,049 caused state departments all over the world to stir uneasily. 98 00:06:24,084 --> 00:06:26,918 -MULLER: Uranium fuels a new type of conflict -- 99 00:06:26,954 --> 00:06:28,987 not a hot shooting war, 100 00:06:29,022 --> 00:06:30,555 but a cold war -- 101 00:06:30,591 --> 00:06:33,892 and everyone began to test bigger bombs. 102 00:06:33,927 --> 00:06:35,927 -WOMAN: Here at the Atomic Energy Commission's 103 00:06:35,963 --> 00:06:37,796 Nevada test site, 104 00:06:37,831 --> 00:06:41,066 a program to test the effects of an atomic blast 105 00:06:41,101 --> 00:06:44,569 upon the things we use in our everyday lives. 106 00:06:46,807 --> 00:06:49,241 Naturally, I was very interested 107 00:06:49,276 --> 00:06:51,576 in preparations for the testing of textiles 108 00:06:51,612 --> 00:06:54,045 and synthetic fabrics. 109 00:06:54,081 --> 00:06:58,950 -MAN: ...7, 6, 5, 4, 110 00:06:58,986 --> 00:07:03,889 3, 2, 1, 0. 111 00:07:03,924 --> 00:07:07,826 -Â♪ People got worried over the land Â♪ 112 00:07:07,861 --> 00:07:10,128 Â♪ Just like the people in Japan Â♪ 113 00:07:10,164 --> 00:07:13,165 Â♪ God told Elijah he'd send down fire Â♪ 114 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,734 Â♪ Send down fire from the sky Â♪ 115 00:07:15,769 --> 00:07:18,570 Â♪ Sure don't know about the rainbow sign Â♪ 116 00:07:18,605 --> 00:07:20,739 Â♪ Won't be water but fire next time Â♪ 117 00:07:20,774 --> 00:07:21,907 Â♪ You know now Â♪ 118 00:07:21,942 --> 00:07:25,043 Â♪ Everybody worried Â♪ 119 00:07:25,078 --> 00:07:27,512 Â♪ About that atom bomb Â♪ 120 00:07:27,548 --> 00:07:29,114 Â♪ No one seems worried Â♪ 121 00:07:29,149 --> 00:07:31,583 -MULLER: Uranium forces people to confront 122 00:07:31,618 --> 00:07:34,085 an elemental power of the universe. 123 00:07:34,121 --> 00:07:38,190 But it also forces them to confront something elemental 124 00:07:38,225 --> 00:07:40,459 within themselves -- 125 00:07:40,494 --> 00:07:41,726 fear. 126 00:07:41,762 --> 00:07:43,929 -[ Screams ] 127 00:07:43,964 --> 00:07:48,366 -MULLER: Uranium transforms into its own unique genre of movie -- 128 00:07:48,402 --> 00:07:51,069 the atomic-age monster. 129 00:07:51,104 --> 00:07:54,539 -There it is now, attacking the United Nations building. 130 00:07:54,575 --> 00:07:57,375 -MULLER: But the real horror is that with uranium, 131 00:07:57,411 --> 00:08:01,246 we now have the power to destroy all life on Earth. 132 00:08:06,753 --> 00:08:10,956 -Â♪ We will all burn together when we burn Â♪ 133 00:08:10,991 --> 00:08:14,793 Â♪ There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn Â♪ 134 00:08:14,828 --> 00:08:17,229 Â♪ When it's time for the fallout Â♪ 135 00:08:17,264 --> 00:08:19,397 Â♪ And St. Peter calls us all out Â♪ 136 00:08:19,433 --> 00:08:23,335 Â♪ We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn Â♪ 137 00:08:23,370 --> 00:08:27,572 Â♪ We will all go together when we go Â♪ 138 00:08:27,608 --> 00:08:31,776 Â♪ Every Hottentot and every Eskimo Â♪ 139 00:08:31,812 --> 00:08:35,046 Â♪ When the air becomes "uranious" Â♪ 140 00:08:35,082 --> 00:08:38,250 Â♪ We will all go simultaneous Â♪ 141 00:08:38,285 --> 00:08:40,252 Â♪ Yes, we all will go together Â♪ 142 00:08:40,287 --> 00:08:42,521 Â♪ When we all go together Â♪ 143 00:08:42,556 --> 00:08:50,695 Â♪ Yes, we all will go together when we go Â♪ 144 00:08:50,731 --> 00:08:52,764 [ Applause ] 145 00:08:58,272 --> 00:09:01,373 -Deep underground beneath my feet 146 00:09:01,408 --> 00:09:05,076 is the closest you might come to a certain type of hell, 147 00:09:05,112 --> 00:09:08,947 a place where the end of the world begins. 148 00:09:08,982 --> 00:09:10,282 -MAN: Hey, Derek. 149 00:09:10,317 --> 00:09:11,816 -MULLER: How you doing? 150 00:09:11,852 --> 00:09:14,252 -MAN: Good. Welcome to 1-7. 151 00:09:14,288 --> 00:09:15,921 -MULLER: This is a nice ride you got here. 152 00:09:15,956 --> 00:09:18,290 -MAN: Yeah, I'll get it up here for you and we'll have you 153 00:09:18,325 --> 00:09:20,058 hop onboard, and we'll take a look around. 154 00:09:20,093 --> 00:09:21,326 -MULLER: Thank you very much. -MAN: You're welcome. 155 00:09:21,361 --> 00:09:23,094 -MULLER: This facility was operational 156 00:09:23,130 --> 00:09:26,031 from 1963 until 1982, 157 00:09:26,066 --> 00:09:28,833 and it was built to house a terror weapon 158 00:09:28,869 --> 00:09:30,635 from the Cold War 159 00:09:30,671 --> 00:09:32,571 deep in an underground silo. 160 00:09:35,409 --> 00:09:38,577 -Well, Derek, this is level 2 of the silo. 161 00:09:38,612 --> 00:09:40,645 We're down some 10 meters 162 00:09:40,681 --> 00:09:42,781 below the surface now. 163 00:09:42,816 --> 00:09:47,352 And this...is the launch duct. 164 00:09:50,457 --> 00:09:53,391 And that is Titan II, 165 00:09:53,427 --> 00:09:57,662 the largest and most powerful missile weapons system 166 00:09:57,698 --> 00:10:00,632 ever deployed by the United States. 167 00:10:00,667 --> 00:10:02,534 It's a 9-megaton weapon. 168 00:10:02,569 --> 00:10:03,702 -MULLER: Compared to Hiroshima? 169 00:10:03,737 --> 00:10:07,405 -Oh, call it 650 times. 170 00:10:07,441 --> 00:10:10,308 An enormously powerful weapon. 171 00:10:10,344 --> 00:10:12,978 The idea behind Titan II was to instill 172 00:10:13,013 --> 00:10:16,581 enough fear in the mind of the enemy 173 00:10:16,617 --> 00:10:18,483 to cause them to think twice 174 00:10:18,518 --> 00:10:20,518 about launching an attack against us, 175 00:10:20,554 --> 00:10:23,822 knowing that 10 meters below the desert 176 00:10:23,857 --> 00:10:25,924 in our fortified concrete bunker, 177 00:10:25,959 --> 00:10:28,493 we can ride out their first strike 178 00:10:28,528 --> 00:10:29,828 and live to retaliate. 179 00:10:29,863 --> 00:10:31,396 If we're forced to do that, 180 00:10:31,431 --> 00:10:35,266 the consequences for the enemy would be so unspeakably horrible 181 00:10:35,302 --> 00:10:36,701 that maybe they would prefer 182 00:10:36,737 --> 00:10:39,070 not to get into it with us in the first place. 183 00:10:39,106 --> 00:10:42,841 That's the essence of deterrence. 184 00:10:47,714 --> 00:10:49,914 -MULLER: With the breakup of the Soviet Union 185 00:10:49,950 --> 00:10:52,584 and the end of the Cold War, we think 186 00:10:52,619 --> 00:10:55,353 that the threat of nuclear annihilation has gone away, 187 00:10:55,389 --> 00:10:59,424 but there are still more than 16,000 nuclear weapons 188 00:10:59,459 --> 00:11:00,759 in the world today, 189 00:11:00,794 --> 00:11:05,664 enough to destroy all of us many times over. 190 00:11:07,334 --> 00:11:09,634 It's easy to fear these 191 00:11:09,670 --> 00:11:12,037 terrifying missiles of the atomic age. 192 00:11:12,072 --> 00:11:15,774 But it's also easy to forget that minus their bombs, 193 00:11:15,809 --> 00:11:19,377 they carried us into the new world of space. 194 00:11:19,413 --> 00:11:25,383 Neil Armstrong first lifted off atop one of these missiles. 195 00:11:25,419 --> 00:11:28,620 And in 1977, it was a Titan 196 00:11:28,655 --> 00:11:31,456 that launched the Voyager spacecraft. 197 00:11:33,126 --> 00:11:35,894 Almost 40 years later, 198 00:11:35,929 --> 00:11:39,698 Voya has left our solar system. 199 00:11:39,733 --> 00:11:41,566 It's still traveling, 200 00:11:41,601 --> 00:11:43,568 still sending data. 201 00:11:43,603 --> 00:11:47,372 Its battery is nuclear. 202 00:11:47,407 --> 00:11:49,974 The slow release of its radiation creates heat, 203 00:11:50,010 --> 00:11:52,911 which is converted into electricity. 204 00:11:52,946 --> 00:11:54,846 Solar wouldn't work out here, 205 00:11:54,881 --> 00:11:57,048 and normal batteries don't last. 206 00:11:57,084 --> 00:11:59,684 These images 207 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,253 come to us courtesy of uranium. 208 00:12:06,359 --> 00:12:08,059 Uranium has taken us 209 00:12:08,095 --> 00:12:12,097 on an incredible journey. 210 00:12:16,737 --> 00:12:20,205 My journey has brought me to an ancient land 211 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,842 that has some of the richest deposits of uranium on Earth, 212 00:12:23,877 --> 00:12:25,577 where ancient stories warn 213 00:12:25,612 --> 00:12:29,314 that a powerful creation spirit sleeps underground. 214 00:12:29,349 --> 00:12:31,750 Here I met Jeffrey Lee, 215 00:12:31,785 --> 00:12:34,919 the traditional owner of this country. 216 00:12:41,762 --> 00:12:43,261 -MULLER: Jeffrey's people believe 217 00:12:43,296 --> 00:12:46,464 that disturbing the powerful spirit beneath this land 218 00:12:46,500 --> 00:12:49,501 will unleash disaster. 219 00:12:49,536 --> 00:12:52,036 Jeffrey refused a share 220 00:12:52,072 --> 00:12:56,608 of $5 billion to mine here. 221 00:13:18,532 --> 00:13:20,765 -MULLER: In the age of uranium, 222 00:13:20,801 --> 00:13:26,237 we learned to live uneasily with the dragon. 223 00:13:26,273 --> 00:13:29,507 Then on April 26, 1986, 224 00:13:29,543 --> 00:13:30,942 far away from here, 225 00:13:30,977 --> 00:13:33,444 at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, 226 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,648 there's a catastrophic accident. 227 00:13:36,683 --> 00:13:38,983 -There has been a nuclear accident in the Soviet Union, 228 00:13:39,019 --> 00:13:40,752 and the Soviets have admitted that it happened. 229 00:13:40,787 --> 00:13:42,153 One of the atomic reactos 230 00:13:42,189 --> 00:13:45,023 at the Chernobyl atomic power plant in the city of Kiev 231 00:13:45,058 --> 00:13:46,558 was damaged. 232 00:13:46,593 --> 00:13:48,860 -MULLER: In 1986, the uranium-fueled 233 00:13:48,895 --> 00:13:50,461 nuclear reactor at Chernobyl 234 00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:53,398 suffers a catastrophic failure. 235 00:13:53,433 --> 00:13:56,768 Radiation is released across Europe. 236 00:13:56,803 --> 00:13:58,036 -MAN: A radioactive cloud 237 00:13:58,071 --> 00:13:59,771 headed north across Poland today 238 00:13:59,806 --> 00:14:02,207 and into Denmark, where radiation levels 239 00:14:02,242 --> 00:14:03,975 were five times normal, 240 00:14:04,010 --> 00:14:06,644 to Finland, six times normal, to Norway... 241 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:09,080 -MULLER: Soldiers are ordered to smother the reactor, 242 00:14:09,115 --> 00:14:12,717 and, to limit their exposure to the intense radiation, 243 00:14:12,752 --> 00:14:15,386 they're allowed to work for short periods only 244 00:14:15,422 --> 00:14:19,057 before they must be replaced by others. 245 00:14:19,092 --> 00:14:21,359 The first responders to the accident 246 00:14:21,394 --> 00:14:23,194 in the early hours of that morning 247 00:14:23,230 --> 00:14:26,097 were the Chernobyl firemen. 248 00:14:26,132 --> 00:14:28,499 They charged with incredible courage 249 00:14:28,535 --> 00:14:31,536 into a massive level of radiation. 250 00:14:31,571 --> 00:14:33,972 They put out the fires, 251 00:14:34,007 --> 00:14:36,708 and then they were taken to hospital, 252 00:14:36,743 --> 00:14:39,978 where they began to die. 253 00:14:42,883 --> 00:14:45,450 In the nearby city of Pripyat, 254 00:14:45,485 --> 00:14:46,684 people are asked to pack 255 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,653 a few small personal belongings. 256 00:14:48,688 --> 00:14:52,290 They are to be temporarily evacuated. 257 00:14:52,325 --> 00:14:55,727 But they have never returned. 258 00:14:58,164 --> 00:14:59,831 High levels of radiation mean 259 00:14:59,866 --> 00:15:02,667 the city and the countryside around the reactor 260 00:15:02,702 --> 00:15:06,905 remain an abandoned exclusion zone... 261 00:15:10,410 --> 00:15:16,114 ...the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. 262 00:15:21,454 --> 00:15:25,556 I'm traveling with a physicist who works in nuclear medicine. 263 00:15:25,592 --> 00:15:27,492 She prefers to be called "Bionerd." 264 00:15:27,527 --> 00:15:31,863 She's been here several times before, studying radiation. 265 00:15:31,898 --> 00:15:33,197 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 266 00:15:33,233 --> 00:15:34,866 -BIONERD: So, you can see all these radiation warnings. 267 00:15:34,901 --> 00:15:36,567 -MULLER: Oh, hang on. I'm getting a rise in levels here. 268 00:15:36,603 --> 00:15:39,871 Okay, we're up over 5 microsieverts an hour. 269 00:15:39,906 --> 00:15:41,306 Whoa. 270 00:15:41,341 --> 00:15:44,342 Up over 8, 9 microsieverts an hour. 271 00:15:44,377 --> 00:15:46,244 The alarm's going off on my Geiger counter. 272 00:15:46,279 --> 00:15:47,779 -BIONERD: The thing is screaming, yeah? 273 00:15:47,814 --> 00:15:50,381 -Yeah, 11 microsieverts an hour. 274 00:15:50,417 --> 00:15:54,285 It's like 100 times natural background. 275 00:15:54,321 --> 00:15:57,021 Natural background is the level of radiation 276 00:15:57,057 --> 00:15:59,357 naturally occurring on Earth. 277 00:15:59,392 --> 00:16:03,494 On average, it's around 0.2 microsieverts per hour. 278 00:16:03,530 --> 00:16:08,166 But this place isn't going to be natural. 279 00:16:08,201 --> 00:16:10,401 Bionerd and I are going into the site 280 00:16:10,437 --> 00:16:13,871 of the world's worst nuclear accident. 281 00:16:13,907 --> 00:16:16,341 We are going into the city of Pripyat, 282 00:16:16,376 --> 00:16:21,746 where the warm forest slowly claims the city. 283 00:16:28,722 --> 00:16:31,356 Visitors are allowed in here, 284 00:16:31,391 --> 00:16:34,258 but only for brief periods 285 00:16:34,294 --> 00:16:36,127 and never overnight. 286 00:16:56,649 --> 00:17:01,586 This was a model city. 287 00:17:01,621 --> 00:17:03,755 About 50,000 people lived here, 288 00:17:03,790 --> 00:17:08,960 mostly workers at the nuclear power plant and their families. 289 00:17:15,468 --> 00:17:20,371 This is what the world looks like without people. 290 00:17:24,177 --> 00:17:27,278 Nuclear reactors like the Chernobyl reactor 291 00:17:27,313 --> 00:17:29,213 split uranium atoms. 292 00:17:29,249 --> 00:17:32,083 They smash them into fragments. 293 00:17:32,118 --> 00:17:33,718 And that releases heat, 294 00:17:33,753 --> 00:17:37,155 which is how they generate electricity. 295 00:17:37,190 --> 00:17:39,424 When uranium atoms smash, 296 00:17:39,459 --> 00:17:42,794 they break into smaller fragments. 297 00:17:42,829 --> 00:17:44,495 And when the Chernobyl reactor blew, 298 00:17:44,531 --> 00:17:47,799 it spread those fragments across the city 299 00:17:47,834 --> 00:17:50,401 like dust. 300 00:17:53,940 --> 00:17:55,073 [ Devices beeping rapidly ] 301 00:17:55,108 --> 00:17:57,175 The light dusting of invisible 302 00:17:57,210 --> 00:17:58,776 smashed uranium atoms, 303 00:17:58,812 --> 00:18:00,611 still radioactive, 304 00:18:00,647 --> 00:18:04,515 is what our Geiger counters are picking up. 305 00:18:04,551 --> 00:18:09,854 The radiation level is about 20 times average background. 306 00:18:09,889 --> 00:18:11,989 That's not too dangerous for this place 307 00:18:12,025 --> 00:18:14,659 because the radiation released from the reactor 308 00:18:14,694 --> 00:18:17,428 coated the city unevenly, 309 00:18:17,464 --> 00:18:23,067 so there's hot spots that are really dangerous, even lethal. 310 00:18:23,103 --> 00:18:27,405 A lot of people are afraid of radiation, but you're not. 311 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,973 Why not? 312 00:18:48,461 --> 00:18:50,394 -What are the biological effects 313 00:18:50,430 --> 00:18:52,330 of getting exposed to radiation? 314 00:19:44,083 --> 00:19:47,318 -The most insidious thing about radiation 315 00:19:47,353 --> 00:19:51,589 is how invisible it is. 316 00:19:51,624 --> 00:19:53,791 You can't feel it. 317 00:19:53,826 --> 00:19:57,361 You can't smell it or see it. 318 00:19:57,397 --> 00:20:02,767 This could be pristine wilderness. 319 00:20:02,802 --> 00:20:05,403 But it's not. 320 00:20:05,438 --> 00:20:09,140 And even the effects of radiation are almost invisible. 321 00:20:09,175 --> 00:20:11,275 It may make you sick, 322 00:20:11,311 --> 00:20:14,612 but perhaps not today or this year. 323 00:20:14,647 --> 00:20:17,014 Maybe you'll find out in 10 years' time 324 00:20:17,050 --> 00:20:19,717 that you have a certain form of leukemia. 325 00:20:19,752 --> 00:20:23,020 Was that caused by your exposure to radiation, 326 00:20:23,056 --> 00:20:26,157 or were you gonna get it anyway? 327 00:20:26,192 --> 00:20:29,827 And that's the problem with radiation. 328 00:20:29,862 --> 00:20:33,564 That's why people fear it, I think, so much. 329 00:20:36,903 --> 00:20:41,339 I'm about to go into the hospital at Pripyat. 330 00:20:41,374 --> 00:20:43,541 And this is where the firemen were taken 331 00:20:43,576 --> 00:20:48,212 after they fought the fires at the Chernobyl reactor. 332 00:20:48,248 --> 00:20:52,183 That is the door to the emergency room 333 00:20:52,218 --> 00:20:54,118 at the Pripyat hospital. 334 00:20:54,153 --> 00:20:56,120 This is where the firemen were brought 335 00:20:56,155 --> 00:20:59,390 after fighting the blaze over at the Chernobyl reactor. 336 00:20:59,425 --> 00:21:02,326 Their clothing is actually still in the basement, 337 00:21:02,362 --> 00:21:05,229 but I want to go down there 338 00:21:05,265 --> 00:21:09,367 to see how contaminated that clothing is. 339 00:21:09,402 --> 00:21:14,505 And I want to understand what those firemen went through. 340 00:21:14,540 --> 00:21:16,607 Bionerd says the radiation down there 341 00:21:16,643 --> 00:21:21,679 might be 10,000 times higher than natural background, 342 00:21:21,714 --> 00:21:23,147 and that's dangerous. 343 00:21:23,182 --> 00:21:25,283 So we need protection. 344 00:21:25,318 --> 00:21:29,053 You don't want to ingest or breathe in this stuff. 345 00:21:29,088 --> 00:21:31,689 And I think this is the time 346 00:21:31,724 --> 00:21:35,926 when I get a real sense of the danger of radiation. 347 00:21:35,962 --> 00:21:39,664 It's right here. 348 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,835 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 349 00:21:50,543 --> 00:21:54,879 The main radiation down here is from one particular fragment 350 00:21:54,914 --> 00:21:57,315 of split uranium atoms. 351 00:21:57,350 --> 00:22:00,484 It's called caesium-137. 352 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:05,756 And the radiation it's releasing is what you can hear. 353 00:22:05,792 --> 00:22:07,591 [ Beeping continues ] 354 00:22:41,494 --> 00:22:43,027 One microsievert per hour -- 355 00:22:43,062 --> 00:22:45,963 That's five times natural background. 356 00:22:50,937 --> 00:22:53,137 [ Beeping intensifies ] 357 00:22:53,172 --> 00:22:55,139 -BIONERD: [ Speaks indistinctly ] 358 00:23:26,639 --> 00:23:29,974 -MULLER: On the floor up ahead, what we have come to see -- 359 00:23:30,009 --> 00:23:34,011 a boot from one of the Chernobyl firemen. 360 00:23:38,718 --> 00:23:40,017 -BIONERD: Yeah. 361 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:46,223 -MULLER: That's 10,000 times natural background radiation. 362 00:23:46,259 --> 00:23:50,761 And then we found a room with a pile of the firemen's gear -- 363 00:23:50,797 --> 00:23:55,266 tunics, boots, and helmets heaped on the floor. 364 00:24:05,244 --> 00:24:09,647 That's 2,500 times higher than natural background radiation, 365 00:24:09,682 --> 00:24:12,283 and I was happy to stay outside, 366 00:24:12,318 --> 00:24:16,086 but then Bionerd went in. 367 00:24:24,997 --> 00:24:26,864 -BIONERD: Yeah. 368 00:24:30,069 --> 00:24:32,536 -MULLER: We had been down there just four minutes, 369 00:24:32,572 --> 00:24:36,173 but that was enough. 370 00:24:36,209 --> 00:24:39,243 We had seen the clothing 371 00:24:39,278 --> 00:24:41,846 of the firemen of Chernobyl. 372 00:24:48,554 --> 00:24:51,121 Whoa! 373 00:24:51,157 --> 00:24:53,891 That was intense. 374 00:25:01,834 --> 00:25:03,968 Now, to put that in perspective, 375 00:25:04,003 --> 00:25:05,569 if you were down there for an hour, 376 00:25:05,605 --> 00:25:09,039 that would be what you'd normally receive in a year. 377 00:25:09,075 --> 00:25:12,443 And also, you know, if you receive your dose all at once, 378 00:25:12,478 --> 00:25:15,479 that's much worse than having it spread out throughout the year 379 00:25:15,515 --> 00:25:16,680 because over that time, 380 00:25:16,716 --> 00:25:19,183 your body has time to repair any damage. 381 00:25:19,218 --> 00:25:21,819 But, you know, if you get higher doses all at once, 382 00:25:21,854 --> 00:25:24,288 that's when it becomes dangerous. 383 00:25:30,463 --> 00:25:34,465 To understand why this place is still so toxic, 384 00:25:34,500 --> 00:25:37,034 we need to understand half-life -- 385 00:25:37,069 --> 00:25:41,305 the rate at which radioactive atoms decay. 386 00:25:41,340 --> 00:25:45,476 Imagine this soccer ball is an atom of caesium-137. 387 00:25:45,511 --> 00:25:48,979 It is unstable, and at some point in the future, 388 00:25:49,015 --> 00:25:50,814 it will spit out particles, 389 00:25:50,850 --> 00:25:54,385 decaying into something that is no longer dangerous, 390 00:25:54,420 --> 00:25:58,389 but I cannot tell you when it will do that. 391 00:25:58,424 --> 00:26:03,994 It could be today or next week or even 100 years from now. 392 00:26:04,030 --> 00:26:05,829 But what I can tell you is that 393 00:26:05,865 --> 00:26:08,365 if you have a whole bunch of these atoms, 394 00:26:08,401 --> 00:26:13,971 then in 30 years, exactly half of them will have decayed -- 395 00:26:14,006 --> 00:26:18,208 emitted their radiation and become no longer dangerous. 396 00:26:18,244 --> 00:26:22,046 That is the half-life of caesium-137. 397 00:26:22,081 --> 00:26:24,582 It's 30 years. 398 00:26:24,617 --> 00:26:27,418 Now, it's been about 30 years since the Chernobyl accident, 399 00:26:27,453 --> 00:26:29,420 and in that time, 400 00:26:29,455 --> 00:26:33,991 half of the caesium-137 that was released has decayed. 401 00:26:34,026 --> 00:26:36,594 And the other half of it is still here, 402 00:26:36,629 --> 00:26:40,264 still releasing radiation. 403 00:26:40,299 --> 00:26:44,535 That is why the firemen's clothing is still dangerous. 404 00:26:44,570 --> 00:26:48,138 It's also why people won't live here again 405 00:26:48,174 --> 00:26:51,575 for hundreds of years. 406 00:26:58,517 --> 00:27:04,688 Uranium has ensured the people of Pripyat will never return. 407 00:27:10,930 --> 00:27:14,565 Some fragments of split uranium atoms 408 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,067 have half-lives of just seconds. 409 00:27:17,103 --> 00:27:21,772 But others, like caesium-137, last for decades. 410 00:27:21,807 --> 00:27:24,274 High above the city, 411 00:27:24,310 --> 00:27:27,111 out on the horizon, the Chernobyl reactor itself, 412 00:27:27,146 --> 00:27:31,649 and the most astounding half-life of them all -- 413 00:27:31,684 --> 00:27:33,951 uranium. 414 00:27:33,986 --> 00:27:37,855 That is the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor. 415 00:27:37,890 --> 00:27:40,124 In 1986, after the accident, 416 00:27:40,159 --> 00:27:42,026 it was encased in the sarcophagus 417 00:27:42,061 --> 00:27:43,227 that you can see now, 418 00:27:43,262 --> 00:27:45,529 but it's weathering and cracking 419 00:27:45,564 --> 00:27:46,964 and needs to be replaced, 420 00:27:46,999 --> 00:27:50,734 so they're building a new confinement structure over here. 421 00:27:50,770 --> 00:27:53,504 They can't build it above the old sarcophagus 422 00:27:53,539 --> 00:27:56,140 because the levels of radiation are still too high. 423 00:27:56,175 --> 00:27:59,977 So they'll have to slide the whole structure across. 424 00:28:00,012 --> 00:28:03,013 It'll cost billions of dollars, 425 00:28:03,049 --> 00:28:06,884 and this structure will last 100 years. 426 00:28:06,919 --> 00:28:10,020 And that is only a temporary solution 427 00:28:10,056 --> 00:28:13,290 because the half-life of uranium-238 428 00:28:13,325 --> 00:28:16,460 is 4.5 billion years. 429 00:28:16,495 --> 00:28:20,464 It's the same as the lifetime of the Earth. 430 00:28:20,499 --> 00:28:24,902 So, in 5 billion years, when all life has ceased on this planet 431 00:28:24,937 --> 00:28:28,639 and the Sun is engulfing the Earth, 432 00:28:28,674 --> 00:28:34,311 only half of the uranium which is still in that sarcophagus 433 00:28:34,346 --> 00:28:37,081 will have decayed away. 434 00:28:37,116 --> 00:28:40,951 But there are other dangerous radioactive fission fragments 435 00:28:40,986 --> 00:28:44,054 in there with much shorter half-lives. 436 00:28:44,090 --> 00:28:45,823 And the astounding thing is 437 00:28:45,858 --> 00:28:50,260 some of these can be used to save lives. 438 00:28:53,632 --> 00:28:55,632 In this unremarkable building, 439 00:28:55,668 --> 00:28:58,736 they take what makes Chernobyl so dangerous, 440 00:28:58,771 --> 00:29:02,272 and they make a life-saving medicine. 441 00:29:02,308 --> 00:29:05,075 All right, I am all set, suited up, and ready to go 442 00:29:05,111 --> 00:29:08,345 into Australia's one and only nuclear reactor. 443 00:29:08,380 --> 00:29:10,314 This is not a power reactor. 444 00:29:10,349 --> 00:29:11,782 It is a research reactor, 445 00:29:11,817 --> 00:29:16,153 and here they create medicine and technology. 446 00:29:18,958 --> 00:29:20,357 The medicine they make here 447 00:29:20,392 --> 00:29:23,360 is called technetium-99m. 448 00:29:23,395 --> 00:29:24,995 -COMPUTER: Please enter and pause 449 00:29:25,030 --> 00:29:26,296 until counting has finishe. 450 00:29:27,900 --> 00:29:31,335 -MULLER: But what's really exciting is where they make it. 451 00:29:31,370 --> 00:29:32,402 -Okay. 452 00:29:32,438 --> 00:29:34,805 Please proceed. 453 00:29:42,348 --> 00:29:45,682 -This is a nuclear reactor. 454 00:29:45,718 --> 00:29:47,551 It's actually an open-pool reactor, 455 00:29:47,586 --> 00:29:49,686 which means that the core is visible 456 00:29:49,722 --> 00:29:53,056 12 meters underneath that water. 457 00:30:00,266 --> 00:30:03,700 You can see a blue glow down there, 458 00:30:03,736 --> 00:30:06,503 which is actually called Cherenkov radiation, 459 00:30:06,539 --> 00:30:08,205 and what that is 460 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,007 is electrons moving through the water 461 00:30:10,042 --> 00:30:13,277 faster than light can move through the water. 462 00:30:13,312 --> 00:30:17,080 And that creates what's kind of like an optical sonic boom. 463 00:30:17,116 --> 00:30:18,415 That's the blue glow of light 464 00:30:18,450 --> 00:30:21,852 which forms a cone behind every electron. 465 00:30:27,393 --> 00:30:31,829 Down there, they are splitting uranium atoms into fragments. 466 00:30:31,864 --> 00:30:38,569 It's the first step in making the medicine technetium-99m. 467 00:30:40,272 --> 00:30:43,841 Technetium-99m has a half-life 468 00:30:43,876 --> 00:30:45,342 of just six hours. 469 00:30:45,377 --> 00:30:46,577 It's a crucial medicine 470 00:30:46,612 --> 00:30:48,378 used to detect cancer. 471 00:30:49,849 --> 00:30:52,382 Here I met up with Jason. 472 00:30:52,418 --> 00:30:53,984 -MAN: It was actually 2001, 473 00:30:54,019 --> 00:30:56,253 and I was playing Australian rules football, 474 00:30:56,288 --> 00:30:59,489 and it was a pain in my leg, 475 00:30:59,525 --> 00:31:01,758 and it just got worse and worse, 476 00:31:01,794 --> 00:31:04,027 and I assumed I had a hip injury 477 00:31:04,063 --> 00:31:06,797 and saw an orthopedic surgeon, 478 00:31:06,832 --> 00:31:09,700 expecting a hip operation, and he said, 479 00:31:09,735 --> 00:31:13,303 "You've got a tumor about that long in your leg." 480 00:31:13,339 --> 00:31:16,173 There's a few key tests, but this one is the key test. 481 00:31:16,208 --> 00:31:17,274 -MULLER: So, what do you reckon? 482 00:31:17,309 --> 00:31:18,475 Should you be radioactive? 483 00:31:18,510 --> 00:31:19,710 -BATSON: [ Chuckles ] 484 00:31:19,745 --> 00:31:21,311 You're gonna tell me. 485 00:31:21,347 --> 00:31:22,679 [ Device beeping slowly ] 486 00:31:22,715 --> 00:31:24,615 -MULLER: You don't seem very radioactive. 487 00:31:24,650 --> 00:31:26,216 That reading is about the same 488 00:31:26,252 --> 00:31:29,386 as everywhere around this hospital. 489 00:31:29,421 --> 00:31:32,956 And now the highly radioactive technetium-99m 490 00:31:32,992 --> 00:31:36,627 is injected into Jason. 491 00:31:36,662 --> 00:31:37,728 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 492 00:31:37,763 --> 00:31:38,996 I'm getting an alarm off that. 493 00:31:39,031 --> 00:31:40,497 This is the kind of level of radiation 494 00:31:40,532 --> 00:31:42,232 we saw in Chernobyl. 495 00:31:42,268 --> 00:31:43,300 -MAN: Injecting now. 496 00:31:43,335 --> 00:31:44,902 -MULLER: And what they're injecting you with 497 00:31:44,937 --> 00:31:47,437 is actually fragments of uranium. 498 00:31:47,473 --> 00:31:48,705 -There you go. 499 00:31:48,741 --> 00:31:50,173 -MULLER: [ Laughs ] 500 00:31:50,209 --> 00:31:51,441 Doesn't freak you out? 501 00:31:51,477 --> 00:31:52,509 [ Chuckles ] 502 00:31:52,544 --> 00:31:53,744 -My eyes are open, and I'm breathing. 503 00:31:53,779 --> 00:31:54,845 -MULLER: [ Laughs ] 504 00:32:04,356 --> 00:32:06,957 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 505 00:32:06,992 --> 00:32:09,693 As you can hear from my Geiger counter, 506 00:32:09,728 --> 00:32:13,997 I'm getting close to a radioactive source. 507 00:32:14,033 --> 00:32:16,300 In this case, it's Jason. 508 00:32:16,335 --> 00:32:20,203 He is actually emitting lots of gamma rays right now. 509 00:32:20,239 --> 00:32:22,739 And in the same way that my Geiger counter 510 00:32:22,775 --> 00:32:24,308 picks up these gamma rays, 511 00:32:24,343 --> 00:32:28,011 this machine is actually detecting those gamma rays 512 00:32:28,047 --> 00:32:30,080 and making a picture out of them, 513 00:32:30,115 --> 00:32:32,683 because technetium gathers at the site 514 00:32:32,718 --> 00:32:35,686 of fast-growing cancers. 515 00:32:35,721 --> 00:32:38,055 And that allows us to determine if there 516 00:32:38,090 --> 00:32:40,157 are any tumors in Jason's body 517 00:32:40,192 --> 00:32:42,559 because they'll be glowing quite brightly. 518 00:32:42,594 --> 00:32:47,297 So this allows us to spot cancer earlier and treat it better. 519 00:32:47,333 --> 00:32:48,999 But what about Jason, 520 00:32:49,034 --> 00:32:53,136 who's now full of radioactive technetium-99m? 521 00:32:53,172 --> 00:32:56,273 Well, that's where the six-hour half-life kicks in. 522 00:32:56,308 --> 00:32:59,343 [ Device ringing ] -268. 523 00:32:59,378 --> 00:33:01,545 -MULLER: Yeah, 240, 300! 524 00:33:01,580 --> 00:33:04,481 Look at that! That bit of you is going off. 525 00:33:04,516 --> 00:33:06,049 -Wow. 526 00:33:06,085 --> 00:33:08,452 -MULLER: I saw something similar when I was a few hundred meters 527 00:33:08,487 --> 00:33:10,620 from the Chernobyl reactor that blew up. 528 00:33:10,656 --> 00:33:11,822 [ Laughs ] 529 00:33:11,857 --> 00:33:12,923 -It's amazing. 530 00:33:12,958 --> 00:33:14,825 -MULLER: Have you heard about half-life? 531 00:33:14,860 --> 00:33:16,727 Have you heard that term before? -No. 532 00:33:16,762 --> 00:33:19,162 -Half-life means how long it takes 533 00:33:19,198 --> 00:33:22,466 for half of the stuff they've put in you to decay. 534 00:33:22,501 --> 00:33:23,900 So, when it's reading right now 535 00:33:23,936 --> 00:33:25,602 around 200 microsieverts an hour, 536 00:33:25,637 --> 00:33:28,105 the half-life of the substance that they put in you 537 00:33:28,140 --> 00:33:29,506 is about six hours. 538 00:33:29,541 --> 00:33:31,575 So, in six hours, this should be reading 100. 539 00:33:31,610 --> 00:33:33,076 -Yeah. -In another six hours, 540 00:33:33,112 --> 00:33:35,579 it'll read 50, and then 25 and so on. 541 00:33:35,614 --> 00:33:37,581 So it cuts in half every six hours. 542 00:33:37,616 --> 00:33:39,349 -Every six hours. Yeah. 543 00:33:41,954 --> 00:33:44,454 [ Children playing ] 544 00:33:44,490 --> 00:33:47,758 -MULLER: The uranium fragments that fell over Chernobyl 545 00:33:47,793 --> 00:33:50,694 had a longer half-life than just six hours, 546 00:33:50,729 --> 00:33:52,929 and I wanted to know what happened 547 00:33:52,965 --> 00:33:55,966 to the people who lived here. 548 00:33:58,704 --> 00:34:00,570 I've come to London to meet someone 549 00:34:00,606 --> 00:34:03,006 who knows a lot about Chernobyl -- 550 00:34:03,042 --> 00:34:05,842 chair of molecular pathology of cancer 551 00:34:05,878 --> 00:34:08,812 at Imperial College London, 552 00:34:08,847 --> 00:34:11,481 Professor Geraldine Thomas. 553 00:34:11,517 --> 00:34:12,949 -Hello, Derek. How are you? 554 00:34:12,985 --> 00:34:14,184 -MULLER: Geraldine has been studying 555 00:34:14,219 --> 00:34:15,218 the health effects of Chernobyl 556 00:34:15,254 --> 00:34:16,987 through a collection of tissue samples 557 00:34:17,022 --> 00:34:18,889 gathered for almost 20 years. 558 00:34:18,924 --> 00:34:23,160 -In the early 1990s, it became apparent fairly quickly 559 00:34:23,195 --> 00:34:24,995 that there was an increase in thyroid cancer 560 00:34:25,030 --> 00:34:27,798 in those who were very young at the time of the accident. 561 00:34:27,833 --> 00:34:29,833 Thyroid cancer in children, 562 00:34:29,868 --> 00:34:32,836 particularly those under about 14, 16, 563 00:34:32,871 --> 00:34:36,173 is very, very rare, and it was obvious 564 00:34:36,208 --> 00:34:37,507 that more and more children 565 00:34:37,543 --> 00:34:39,876 were starting to present with thyroid cancer. 566 00:34:39,912 --> 00:34:42,746 In the case of Chernobyl, 567 00:34:42,781 --> 00:34:44,848 there was an awful lot of iodine that was released, 568 00:34:44,883 --> 00:34:47,184 and that iodine was shot up into the atmosphere 569 00:34:47,219 --> 00:34:49,619 and then came back to Earth very quickly when it rained 570 00:34:49,655 --> 00:34:51,822 and was deposited on the ground. 571 00:34:51,857 --> 00:34:53,690 The cows eat the grass, 572 00:34:53,725 --> 00:34:56,893 and the iodine becomes concentrated in the cows' milk, 573 00:34:56,929 --> 00:34:58,862 which the children then drink. 574 00:34:58,897 --> 00:35:02,833 So, quite a lot of the iodine that's taken in 575 00:35:02,868 --> 00:35:04,334 that's radioactive will release its radiation 576 00:35:04,369 --> 00:35:06,369 while it's inside the thyroid. 577 00:35:06,405 --> 00:35:10,040 Hence, you get an increase in thyroid cancer. 578 00:35:10,075 --> 00:35:12,742 Iodine is very short-lived in the environment. 579 00:35:12,778 --> 00:35:14,878 It has a short half-life of eight days. 580 00:35:14,913 --> 00:35:18,715 So, within three months of there being a release 581 00:35:18,750 --> 00:35:19,850 of radioactive iodine, 582 00:35:19,885 --> 00:35:23,386 it has disappeared from the environment. 583 00:35:23,422 --> 00:35:24,888 -MULLER: What I wanted to know from Geraldine 584 00:35:24,923 --> 00:35:28,892 was what happened to the people of Chernobyl. 585 00:35:28,927 --> 00:35:30,293 -THOMAS: There were 28 people 586 00:35:30,329 --> 00:35:32,996 who were exposed to very high amounts of radiation -- 587 00:35:33,031 --> 00:35:35,031 the firefighters who were trying to put out the fire, 588 00:35:35,067 --> 00:35:37,734 who died of acute radiation syndrome. 589 00:35:37,769 --> 00:35:41,271 And to date, there have been about 15 deaths 590 00:35:41,306 --> 00:35:42,873 from thyroid cancer. 591 00:35:42,908 --> 00:35:44,107 That's all. 592 00:35:44,143 --> 00:35:46,576 More people die from falling out of bed 593 00:35:46,612 --> 00:35:47,944 in the U.K. every year 594 00:35:47,980 --> 00:35:51,414 than have died from the effects of Chernobyl. 595 00:35:51,450 --> 00:35:53,717 -MULLER: The toll of Chernobyl is controversial. 596 00:35:53,752 --> 00:35:56,019 A United Nations report acknowledges 597 00:35:56,054 --> 00:35:59,322 those 15 fatal cases of thyroid cancer 598 00:35:59,358 --> 00:36:02,125 and to date, no persuasive evidence 599 00:36:02,161 --> 00:36:05,695 of any other health effect that can be attributed to radiation. 600 00:36:05,731 --> 00:36:10,634 The important part, though, is those two words -- "to date" -- 601 00:36:10,669 --> 00:36:15,739 because some cancers take decades to develop. 602 00:36:15,774 --> 00:36:19,042 How long do you think Chernobyl won't be inhabitable for? 603 00:36:19,077 --> 00:36:21,378 -Chernobyl is not uninhabitable. 604 00:36:21,413 --> 00:36:25,115 And there are quite a lot of people who live in that area. 605 00:36:25,150 --> 00:36:27,450 They're mainly old people. 606 00:36:27,486 --> 00:36:30,320 People whose land that has been for generations 607 00:36:30,355 --> 00:36:33,456 often move back and stay there. 608 00:36:33,492 --> 00:36:36,560 -MULLER: I met Ivan and Maria, who, despite the radiation, 609 00:36:36,595 --> 00:36:38,795 have moved back to their village. 610 00:36:38,830 --> 00:36:41,998 You were living here 30 years ago? 611 00:36:48,273 --> 00:36:50,307 Do you enjoy it? 612 00:37:08,527 --> 00:37:11,394 [ Chickens clucking ] 613 00:37:21,106 --> 00:37:25,275 [ Speaking Ukrainian ] 614 00:37:25,310 --> 00:37:28,044 [ Grunting ] 615 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,982 -This couple lives completely off the grid. 616 00:37:32,017 --> 00:37:34,084 They're self-reliant. 617 00:37:34,119 --> 00:37:35,986 They get their own water from a well, 618 00:37:36,021 --> 00:37:39,356 use a scythe to cut down their weeds. 619 00:37:39,391 --> 00:37:41,791 They grow their own crops. 620 00:37:43,495 --> 00:37:44,794 I will keep going. I will. 621 00:37:44,830 --> 00:37:46,129 I'll keep going. 622 00:37:46,164 --> 00:37:47,631 All it took for this to happen 623 00:37:47,666 --> 00:37:50,767 was the biggest nuclear accident 624 00:37:50,802 --> 00:37:53,870 in the history of life on Earth. 625 00:37:58,343 --> 00:38:01,945 This area is to the south of the reactor, 626 00:38:01,980 --> 00:38:04,147 and because the wind was blowing the other way 627 00:38:04,182 --> 00:38:06,650 when the accident happened, most of this land 628 00:38:06,685 --> 00:38:10,053 is not contaminated at all. 629 00:38:10,088 --> 00:38:14,591 We're reading about 0.15 microsieverts an hour, 630 00:38:14,626 --> 00:38:17,594 which is probably very similar to the level of radiation 631 00:38:17,629 --> 00:38:19,162 where you are right now. 632 00:38:19,197 --> 00:38:23,333 No one doubts high levels of radiation are dangerous. 633 00:38:23,368 --> 00:38:24,934 What is less clear is 634 00:38:24,970 --> 00:38:28,071 how much low-level radiation is dangerous. 635 00:38:28,106 --> 00:38:30,940 -THOMAS: Radiation is a bit like sun exposure. 636 00:38:30,976 --> 00:38:33,977 We know there's a relationship between exposure to the sun 637 00:38:34,012 --> 00:38:35,679 and development of skin cancer -- 638 00:38:35,714 --> 00:38:37,514 melanoma, in particular. 639 00:38:37,549 --> 00:38:41,284 Now, we all accept that, and we aren't asking somebody to say, 640 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:43,987 "This is a safe dose for sun exposure." 641 00:38:44,022 --> 00:38:46,489 Yet, for radiation, it's exactly the same. 642 00:38:46,525 --> 00:38:48,325 The principles are the same. 643 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:52,095 A small amount of exposure is perfectly okay. 644 00:38:52,130 --> 00:38:55,131 A large amount of high-dose exposure, 645 00:38:55,167 --> 00:38:57,801 as with alcohol, is extremely dangerous. 646 00:38:57,836 --> 00:39:00,637 We're a very long-lived species, 647 00:39:00,672 --> 00:39:04,808 so our bodies must have found ways, over our evolution, 648 00:39:04,843 --> 00:39:07,977 to be able to cope with low-dose radiation. 649 00:39:08,013 --> 00:39:10,246 It may even be that low-dose radiation 650 00:39:10,282 --> 00:39:12,515 is responsible for evolution, 651 00:39:12,551 --> 00:39:14,551 because we know it causes mutations, 652 00:39:14,586 --> 00:39:19,589 and evolution is related to mutation events in our DNA. 653 00:39:19,624 --> 00:39:23,126 So you can argue that we are extremely well adapted 654 00:39:23,161 --> 00:39:25,729 to a low-dose radiation environment. 655 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,902 -MULLER: Life evolved on a radioactive Earth. 656 00:39:32,938 --> 00:39:35,905 Inside the Earth, uranium decay 657 00:39:35,941 --> 00:39:39,342 helps keep the Earth hot and fluid. 658 00:39:39,378 --> 00:39:42,479 Our continents slide slowly about the surface 659 00:39:42,514 --> 00:39:44,681 like a moving crust, 660 00:39:44,716 --> 00:39:47,617 and the movement causes earthquakes, 661 00:39:47,652 --> 00:39:50,019 like the one on March 11, 2011, 662 00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:54,357 a Friday afternoon, off the coast of Japan. 663 00:39:56,728 --> 00:39:59,295 -WOMAN: [ Speaking Japanese ] 664 00:39:59,331 --> 00:40:02,999 -[ Speaking Japanese ] 665 00:40:08,073 --> 00:40:09,973 -WOMAN: With just 10 minutes' warnin, 666 00:40:10,008 --> 00:40:11,808 after the quake came the tsunami -- 667 00:40:11,843 --> 00:40:14,911 a seven-meter wave relentless in its power. 668 00:40:14,946 --> 00:40:17,647 [ Alarms wailing ] 669 00:40:24,322 --> 00:40:27,223 -MAN: The huge white cloud bursting across the horizon 670 00:40:27,259 --> 00:40:28,825 is the number-one reactor shd 671 00:40:28,860 --> 00:40:31,528 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. 672 00:40:31,563 --> 00:40:33,062 -WOMAN: Japan has declared an atomic emergency, 673 00:40:33,098 --> 00:40:34,431 and there are fears of radioactive leaks 674 00:40:34,466 --> 00:40:37,734 from a nuclear reactor in the disaster zone. 675 00:40:37,769 --> 00:40:40,603 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 676 00:40:43,675 --> 00:40:48,878 -MULLER: This is the town of Okuma, which has been abandoned 677 00:40:48,914 --> 00:40:50,580 for over three years now. 678 00:40:50,615 --> 00:40:52,048 [ Bird caws ] 679 00:40:52,083 --> 00:40:55,051 And the level of radiation here is, well, 680 00:40:55,086 --> 00:40:57,854 around 5 or 6 microsieverts an hour. 681 00:40:57,889 --> 00:41:01,257 It's a lot higher than natural background, 682 00:41:01,293 --> 00:41:03,460 like 50 times higher. 683 00:41:03,495 --> 00:41:06,863 So, people aren't allowed to come in here. 684 00:41:12,237 --> 00:41:14,804 The mask is probably overkill. 685 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:19,108 It's just to stop radioactive dust from getting into my lungs. 686 00:41:19,144 --> 00:41:22,111 This is definitely one of the most radioactive places 687 00:41:22,147 --> 00:41:24,781 where I've been on this trip. 688 00:41:24,816 --> 00:41:26,950 Even though the release of radioactive material 689 00:41:26,985 --> 00:41:29,586 was less than Chernobyl, only about 10%, 690 00:41:29,621 --> 00:41:31,821 because it's much fresher, 691 00:41:31,857 --> 00:41:34,123 there's still much more of it here. 692 00:41:34,159 --> 00:41:36,893 Much less of it has decayed. 693 00:41:39,130 --> 00:41:41,764 [ Device beeping rapidly ] 694 00:41:44,569 --> 00:41:48,471 There was another deeply surprising impact of Fukushima. 695 00:41:50,775 --> 00:41:55,578 About 150,000 people were evacuated 696 00:41:55,614 --> 00:41:57,580 from around the Fukushima reactor, 697 00:41:57,616 --> 00:42:01,985 families compelled to leave their homes. 698 00:42:02,020 --> 00:42:06,856 Many have no choice but to live in portable housing like this. 699 00:42:06,892 --> 00:42:10,727 [ Doorbell rings ] 700 00:42:10,762 --> 00:42:14,030 I've come here to meet the Togawa family. 701 00:42:14,065 --> 00:42:18,368 They were evacuated in 2011 and have been here ever since. 702 00:42:18,403 --> 00:42:20,303 Konnichi wa. -Konnichi wa. 703 00:42:20,338 --> 00:42:22,305 -[ Chuckles ] [ Speaks Japanese ] 704 00:42:22,340 --> 00:42:24,307 [ Conversation in Japanese ] 705 00:42:27,879 --> 00:42:31,414 -The Togawas are not allowed to return to their family home, 706 00:42:31,449 --> 00:42:33,449 but they can visit. 707 00:42:33,485 --> 00:42:35,785 So, leaving the kids behind, 708 00:42:35,820 --> 00:42:37,887 Mr. Togawa, his wife, Yuka, and I 709 00:42:37,923 --> 00:42:41,558 set off to visit their home. 710 00:42:44,996 --> 00:42:47,931 [ Alarm ringing ] 711 00:42:47,966 --> 00:42:51,801 That's my first alarm, which is set around 5. 712 00:42:51,836 --> 00:42:53,269 That was just a little hot spot. 713 00:42:53,305 --> 00:42:57,307 There is an exclusion zone around the Fukushima reactor, 714 00:42:57,342 --> 00:42:59,876 just like at Chernobyl. 715 00:42:59,911 --> 00:43:02,278 Access is generally limited 716 00:43:02,314 --> 00:43:04,547 to people who used to live in the zone, 717 00:43:04,583 --> 00:43:09,018 provided their town is declared safe to visit. 718 00:43:27,839 --> 00:43:30,006 Mm-hmm. 719 00:43:30,041 --> 00:43:33,810 Mrs. Togawa is getting suited up, 720 00:43:33,845 --> 00:43:35,845 but it's not because of the levels of radiation. 721 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:38,314 It's actually just because of all the weeds. 722 00:43:38,350 --> 00:43:40,249 The yard is so overgrown, 723 00:43:40,285 --> 00:43:42,852 and there's a lot of little prickly things, little burrs. 724 00:43:42,887 --> 00:43:45,622 The level of radiation here at the house 725 00:43:45,657 --> 00:43:48,291 is about 2 microsieverts an hour. 726 00:43:48,326 --> 00:43:51,127 It may get a little higher as we walk into the yard, 727 00:43:51,162 --> 00:43:55,932 but I think it should be fairly safe for us to go in there. 728 00:44:18,056 --> 00:44:20,089 We're inside the Togawas' old house. 729 00:44:20,125 --> 00:44:22,925 And when they left three years ago, 730 00:44:22,961 --> 00:44:25,061 they thought they wouldn't be away for long, 731 00:44:25,096 --> 00:44:28,431 so most of their stuff is still here. 732 00:44:28,466 --> 00:44:30,800 Their kids' old school uniforms. 733 00:44:32,604 --> 00:44:35,004 I just met these kids this morning. 734 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,541 They've definitely outgrown these uniforms. 735 00:44:57,662 --> 00:45:01,898 -MULLER: The hidden cost of the disaster was psychological -- 736 00:45:01,933 --> 00:45:07,403 depression, illness, and suicide. 737 00:45:07,439 --> 00:45:11,941 -THOMAS: I hope we have a lot better understanding 738 00:45:11,976 --> 00:45:13,209 of what moving people 739 00:45:13,244 --> 00:45:15,878 in response to a radiation accident like that 740 00:45:15,914 --> 00:45:17,947 does to them psychologically. 741 00:45:17,982 --> 00:45:20,783 And I think the most important studies will be those 742 00:45:20,819 --> 00:45:24,554 on the mental effects of disaggregating a community. 743 00:45:24,589 --> 00:45:26,622 And I hope we learn our lesson. 744 00:45:26,658 --> 00:45:28,591 We didn't learn it from Chernobyl. 745 00:45:28,626 --> 00:45:31,828 I really hope we learn it from Fukushima. 746 00:45:31,863 --> 00:45:36,199 -MULLER: Over 16,000 people died in the earthquake and tsunami. 747 00:45:36,234 --> 00:45:38,234 The number who died from radiation 748 00:45:38,269 --> 00:45:42,238 in the nuclear accident is, so far, none. 749 00:45:42,273 --> 00:45:45,608 Not one. 750 00:45:45,643 --> 00:45:49,145 [ Sirens wailing, horns honking ] 751 00:45:51,149 --> 00:45:55,351 After Fukushima, Japan shuts down all nuclear reactors. 752 00:45:55,386 --> 00:45:57,253 Germany starts doing the same. 753 00:45:57,288 --> 00:46:00,990 And it seems that uranium may be finished as a source of energy. 754 00:46:01,025 --> 00:46:05,895 But our hunger for energy hasn't diminished. 755 00:46:05,930 --> 00:46:09,365 There are now 7 billion of us on this planet. 756 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,801 And from now until 2050, 757 00:46:11,836 --> 00:46:19,509 we will use more energy than in all of human history combined. 758 00:46:19,544 --> 00:46:24,680 And uranium, the rock forged in the explosion of a star, 759 00:46:24,716 --> 00:46:30,453 crackles with an energy too tempting to ignore. 760 00:46:30,488 --> 00:46:35,758 There are over 400 nuclear power plants in 30 countries 761 00:46:35,794 --> 00:46:37,727 and another 70 under construction. 762 00:46:37,762 --> 00:46:41,831 Nuclear power isn't going away. 763 00:46:41,866 --> 00:46:46,202 Billowing out of that chimney is not smoke, but water vapor. 764 00:46:46,237 --> 00:46:49,305 And it's not radioactive at all. 765 00:46:49,340 --> 00:46:51,741 In fact, the reading on my Geiger counter is, 766 00:46:51,776 --> 00:46:55,044 well, the lowest I've seen it anywhere in the world. 767 00:46:55,079 --> 00:46:56,813 Now, this nuclear power plant 768 00:46:56,848 --> 00:46:59,916 emits no carbon emissions at all. 769 00:46:59,951 --> 00:47:03,519 So, would you consider it green? 770 00:47:03,555 --> 00:47:09,292 Well, only if you overlook a very important problem. 771 00:47:09,327 --> 00:47:12,628 The way most nuclear power plants operate today, 772 00:47:12,664 --> 00:47:17,767 they use only about 5% of their uranium fuel. 773 00:47:17,802 --> 00:47:22,605 The other 95% is highly radioactive waste. 774 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:28,578 Currently, the United States has 72,000 tons of nuclear waste, 775 00:47:28,613 --> 00:47:31,814 mostly stored in containers like these. 776 00:47:31,850 --> 00:47:33,950 Some of this waste must be stored 777 00:47:33,985 --> 00:47:37,854 for at least 100,000 years. 778 00:47:37,889 --> 00:47:39,755 The safety and security of this waste 779 00:47:39,791 --> 00:47:42,859 remains the responsibility of a company -- 780 00:47:42,894 --> 00:47:45,061 a board of directors and shareholders -- 781 00:47:45,096 --> 00:47:50,833 who will take responsibility for 100,000 years. 782 00:47:50,869 --> 00:47:55,872 But what if there was a way to use this waste? 783 00:47:55,907 --> 00:48:01,244 Dr. Leslie Dewan is one of a new generation of nuclear engineers 784 00:48:01,279 --> 00:48:05,581 designing the next generation of nuclear reactor. 785 00:48:05,617 --> 00:48:10,286 -Most nuclear waste lasts for hundreds of thousands of years, 786 00:48:10,321 --> 00:48:13,856 and my reactor is able to take that long-lived waste 787 00:48:13,892 --> 00:48:16,225 and break it down and extract 788 00:48:16,261 --> 00:48:17,894 almost all of its remaining energy. 789 00:48:17,929 --> 00:48:20,296 And if you take all of that waste 790 00:48:20,331 --> 00:48:21,797 and put it into these 791 00:48:21,833 --> 00:48:24,433 reactors, you could power the entire world 792 00:48:24,469 --> 00:48:26,002 for about 72 years, 793 00:48:26,037 --> 00:48:28,204 even taking into account increasing demand. 794 00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:31,440 -How is your reactor design different? 795 00:48:31,476 --> 00:48:35,811 -It uses a liquid fluoride salt as fuel. 796 00:48:35,847 --> 00:48:37,446 So, if you have an accident, 797 00:48:37,482 --> 00:48:40,917 it's able to shut itself down safely. 798 00:48:40,952 --> 00:48:44,520 Our reactor can run entirely on nuclear waste. 799 00:48:44,555 --> 00:48:46,789 It can't melt down, and it's cheaper than coal. 800 00:48:46,824 --> 00:48:50,293 I think that Fukushima gave us 801 00:48:50,328 --> 00:48:52,228 this renewed sense of focus, almost, 802 00:48:52,263 --> 00:48:53,396 that we really need to work 803 00:48:53,431 --> 00:48:56,098 to improve these nuclear reactors. 804 00:48:56,134 --> 00:48:59,669 We know that there are so many benefits to the technology 805 00:48:59,704 --> 00:49:02,038 for making cheap, carbon-free electricity, 806 00:49:02,073 --> 00:49:07,176 but it made us more aware of all the work that needs to be done 807 00:49:07,211 --> 00:49:10,479 to bring all of the plants into the future. 808 00:49:10,515 --> 00:49:11,747 -MULLER: Leslie thinks her reactor 809 00:49:11,783 --> 00:49:13,950 is less than a decade away. 810 00:49:13,985 --> 00:49:16,519 But I wanted to know what it felt like 811 00:49:16,554 --> 00:49:20,256 living with one of the current reactors in your front yard. 812 00:49:20,291 --> 00:49:23,225 -MAN: For me, there's measured risk 813 00:49:23,261 --> 00:49:25,261 with being next to a power plant. 814 00:49:25,296 --> 00:49:27,063 There's measured risk with, you know, 815 00:49:27,098 --> 00:49:28,831 being next to any factory -- 816 00:49:28,866 --> 00:49:30,633 chemical factory, right? 817 00:49:30,668 --> 00:49:32,635 Obviously, if there's something catastrophic 818 00:49:32,670 --> 00:49:34,170 that happens at a place like this, 819 00:49:34,205 --> 00:49:36,806 you know, this place would be a dead zone for 50 years. 820 00:49:36,841 --> 00:49:39,575 -MULLER: Rob and Shannon moved here in 2011, 821 00:49:39,610 --> 00:49:42,345 just after the Fukushima accident. 822 00:49:42,380 --> 00:49:44,447 So, tell me about the siren. What's the idea with it? 823 00:49:44,482 --> 00:49:48,150 -It goes off every first Wednesday of every month. 824 00:49:48,186 --> 00:49:51,387 And it just goes for a while, and then it shuts off. 825 00:49:51,422 --> 00:49:53,656 They tell us it's just to make sure it's still working. 826 00:49:53,691 --> 00:49:55,324 -Yeah, they're just testing-- -Testing it. 827 00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:58,127 -Have you ever heard it go off not on its schedule? 828 00:49:58,162 --> 00:50:01,163 -SHANNON: Yeah, the kids and I have heard it. 829 00:50:01,199 --> 00:50:05,434 We all just kind of stopped, and they looked at me and... 830 00:50:05,470 --> 00:50:09,038 It's just that fear of if it blows, 831 00:50:09,073 --> 00:50:10,373 what's gonna happen to us? 832 00:50:10,408 --> 00:50:12,775 Or if there's a leak, what's gonna happen to us? 833 00:50:12,810 --> 00:50:15,444 So, just kind of panicked a little. 834 00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:16,812 -From what I understand, 835 00:50:16,848 --> 00:50:19,849 it's one of the cleanest forms of power that we have, 836 00:50:19,884 --> 00:50:21,817 and there's no pollutants. 837 00:50:21,853 --> 00:50:23,185 That's the upside. 838 00:50:23,221 --> 00:50:25,054 I guess the downside is if it does it, 839 00:50:25,089 --> 00:50:28,824 the two examples would be Chernobyl and Fukushima. 840 00:50:28,860 --> 00:50:31,894 But, like I said, it's a measured risk. 841 00:50:34,332 --> 00:50:37,433 -MULLER: Rob and Shannon might be right. 842 00:50:37,468 --> 00:50:43,739 The entire story of uranium is perhaps one of measured risk. 843 00:50:53,584 --> 00:50:57,353 When I began this journey to understand uranium, 844 00:50:57,388 --> 00:51:01,090 I had to wear this badge everywhere I went. 845 00:51:01,125 --> 00:51:04,927 It measures my cumulative exposure to radiation. 846 00:51:04,962 --> 00:51:06,762 I've worn it here amongst some of 847 00:51:06,798 --> 00:51:08,798 the largest uranium deposits on Earth, 848 00:51:08,833 --> 00:51:13,102 where uranium is actually woven into the creation stories 849 00:51:13,137 --> 00:51:18,174 of a people who have lived here for thousands of years. 850 00:51:20,211 --> 00:51:22,945 And I've worn this badge into places 851 00:51:22,980 --> 00:51:27,616 where people may never live for hundreds of years. 852 00:51:27,652 --> 00:51:30,886 I discovered how we took uranium, 853 00:51:30,922 --> 00:51:35,057 and one morning, 70 years ago in the New Mexico desert, 854 00:51:35,093 --> 00:51:38,194 We unleashed the power of the dragon. 855 00:51:41,933 --> 00:51:47,236 We launched ourselves into the nuclear age. 856 00:51:47,271 --> 00:51:49,105 -Men being what they are, wouldn't it really 857 00:51:49,140 --> 00:51:51,540 have been better if this thig hadn't been invented? 858 00:51:51,576 --> 00:51:53,676 -Of course you're right, Mr. Vincent. 859 00:51:53,711 --> 00:51:56,479 The energy in the atom is the most destructive fore 860 00:51:56,514 --> 00:51:58,180 the world has ever seen. 861 00:51:58,216 --> 00:52:00,683 It can also be one of the greatest blessings 862 00:52:00,718 --> 00:52:01,951 God has ever given us. 863 00:52:01,986 --> 00:52:04,353 Which is it to be? 864 00:52:04,388 --> 00:52:08,224 Because on that depends the future of mankind. 865 00:52:13,097 --> 00:52:15,831 -So, what should we do with uranium? 866 00:52:15,867 --> 00:52:17,800 As a physicist, I'm tempted to say 867 00:52:17,835 --> 00:52:20,469 it's such a great source of power. 868 00:52:20,505 --> 00:52:24,340 It has such incredible energy density 869 00:52:24,375 --> 00:52:26,909 and has so many benefits that way. 870 00:52:26,944 --> 00:52:29,111 How can you ignore it? 871 00:52:29,147 --> 00:52:32,681 But after studying it, 872 00:52:32,717 --> 00:52:34,950 after searching the world 873 00:52:34,986 --> 00:52:36,886 and following the story of uranium, 874 00:52:36,921 --> 00:52:39,255 the feeling that I'm left with 875 00:52:39,290 --> 00:52:44,026 is that it's not ready to take over. 876 00:52:44,061 --> 00:52:48,297 And seeing how far renewable energy has come, 877 00:52:48,332 --> 00:52:51,767 that suggests to me that there are alternatives these days 878 00:52:51,802 --> 00:52:54,970 and that we don't need to go with uranium. 879 00:52:55,006 --> 00:52:58,174 We don't need to risk another place like this. 880 00:52:59,977 --> 00:53:03,679 And yet every year, uranium treats disease 881 00:53:03,714 --> 00:53:08,083 and every year saves more lives than it has ever destroyed, 882 00:53:08,119 --> 00:53:12,154 even including the atomic bombs. 883 00:53:12,190 --> 00:53:16,025 And just imagine a world where next-generation reactors 884 00:53:16,060 --> 00:53:22,631 could produce massive amounts of clean, safe energy. 885 00:53:22,667 --> 00:53:25,501 We live in an age where the nuclear dragon 886 00:53:25,536 --> 00:53:27,670 has been unleashed. 887 00:53:27,705 --> 00:53:31,907 And where that leads us remains to be seen. 888 00:53:31,943 --> 00:53:36,011 But there is no such thing as a future without uranium. 889 00:53:38,749 --> 00:53:41,217 [ Woman chanting ] 890 00:53:50,828 --> 00:53:54,930 Uranium had one last surprise for me. 891 00:53:54,966 --> 00:53:57,233 After all the radioactive places I had been, 892 00:53:57,268 --> 00:54:00,636 what was the reading on my radiation monitor? 893 00:54:00,671 --> 00:54:02,938 Well, from natural background radiation, 894 00:54:02,974 --> 00:54:07,176 we all get an average of 2,000 microsieverts a year. 895 00:54:07,211 --> 00:54:09,445 And my reading 896 00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:11,847 was just 280 more. 897 00:54:11,882 --> 00:54:14,850 For me, the journey was worth the risk. 898 00:54:23,828 --> 00:54:27,963 "Uranium: Twisting the Dragon's Tail" is available on DVD. 899 00:54:27,999 --> 00:54:32,901 To order visit shoppbs.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 900 00:54:46,083 --> 00:54:46,415 "Uranium: Twisting the Dragon's Tail" 901 00:54:46,450 --> 00:54:48,550 is made 902 00:54:48,586 --> 00:54:50,786 is made possible in part by contributions to your 903 00:54:50,821 --> 00:54:52,154 PBS station from viewers like you... 904 00:54:52,189 --> 00:54:52,154 Thank you.