About this episode
The episode explores the current state of the Chernobyl disaster site, the flourishing wildlife, and the potential future of nuclear energy.
Forty years later, the exclusion zone surrounding the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains uninhabited by humans. But among the radioactive remnants, wildlife is flourishing, including endangered species. In the second of our two-part series, we look at the state of the disaster site today, consider what lessons we’ve learned during clean up efforts, hear about a strange story about radioactive shellfish, and consider whether small modular reactors could reinvigorate dreams of a nuclear-powered future and bring nuclear energy out of Chernobyl’s shadow. Guests: Steven Biegalski – Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics program at Georgia Institute of Technology Tom Scott – Professor of Nuclear Materials and Devices at the University of Bristol Jacopo Buongiorno – Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), and Director of Science and Technology of the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to…
People in this episode
Guests: Steven Biegalski, Tom Scott, Jacopo Buongiorno
Topics covered
- Chernobyl
- nuclear energy
- wildlife
- radioactive cleanup
- endangered species
- small modular reactors
Keywords
- Chernobyl
- nuclear power
- wildlife
- radioactive
- clean up
- endangered species
- small modular reactors
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Bristol, MIT, Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
Places: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
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